GRANDE PRAIRIE — The insurance company that sued a 14-year-old babysitter who saved two boys from a house fire has dropped the girl from its legal attempt to recoup some of the blaze’s damages.
“It’s unfortunate that (Aaliya) Braybrook was caught up in what was essentially a dispute between insurance companies,” TD Insurance said in a statement.
On July 12, 2007, Aaliyah was hired to babysit two boys, aged five and three, by her neighbour Doug Mills in Clairmont, a village near Grande Prairie.
According to court documents, at some point the older boy found a lighter and set the home on fire.
Aaliyah, then 12, recognized the danger, took the two boys to safety and then called 911.
The fire damaged both the Mills home and the adjacent home of Ken and Diane Mills, the boys’ grandparents. Last July, a lawsuit alleging negligence was filed in their name against Doug Mills.
On April 15, Aaliyah’s name was added to the lawsuit. She was accused of not watching Damien closely enough and failing to call firefighters quickly enough. On Friday, TD Insurance reconsidered.
“We have looked at all the facts and . . . have instructed our legal counsel to discontinue the action against Ms. Braybrook,” the insurer’s statement said.
Both the company and insurance law experts have said that lawsuits following an event such as a fire are common as insurers use the courts to apportion liability.
The lawsuit, naming only Doug Mills as defendant, is expected to proceed.