HBO and Mark Ruffalo are sued over 2019 fire at upstate New York filming location for I Know This Much Is True: Neighbors say the production turned local car dealership into a ‘powder keg’ that ruined their home and exposed them to toxins
- The dealership near Poughkeepsie blew up in May 2019 when the HBO miniseries starring Ruffalo was filming
- Neighbors are now suing, claiming the production is to blame for the blast
- They say HBO turned the site into a ‘powder keg’ by storing flammable materials at the dealership
- As a result, they say the fire was made worse and it ruined their homes
- They also claim they were exposed to toxins, carcinogens and that they remain traumatized
- Ruffalo and HBO are being sued for an unspecified multimillion dollar figure
Mark Ruffalo and HBO are being sued over a 2019 fire at an upstate filming location for the miniseries I Know This Much Is True, claiming they turned an upstate car dealership into a powder keg with filming equipment that blew up, destroyed their houses.
The lawsuit was first reported by TMZ on Sunday.
People who lived next door to the dealership in Ellenville, near Poughkeepsie, say the fire not only ruined their homes but also exposed them to harmful toxins and carcinogens.
They are now seeking an unspecified settlement from Ruffalo and the network that TMZ says is in the millions.
The fire tore through the used car dealership in Ellenville, New York, in May 2019 and neighbors claim it destroyed their homes
Mark Ruffalo in the HBO miniseries I Know This Much Is True
Neither Ruffalo nor HBO has commented.
The production had been using the used car dealership for their miniseries for a month before the fire tore through it in May 2019.
Ruffalo starred in the series along with Rosie O’Donnell, but it’s unclear if she is named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
According to the neighbors, the production is to blame for the fire because it turned the dealership into a ‘powder keg’ by storing kerosene, heating oil and other flammable materials onsite.
It has been three years since the fire but the neighbors claim it is yet to be cleaned up.
In their lawsuit, they describe it as an ‘uncovered and unabated debris pile, toxin spill’ that exposes them to ‘ wind-driven dust and gaseous dispersion.’
The owners of the dealership previously sued Calling Grace Productions, the production company behind the series, for the fire.
It is unclear what the result of that lawsuit was, or if a cause for the fire was ever established.