A settlement has been reached in a trailer park fire death that sparked years of continuing controversy surrounding Trails End Mobile Home Park — now La Hacienda Mobile Estates.

The former owner of the trailer park will pay $1 million to the family of a man who died and to a woman injured in the 2021 fire.

The June settlement between the family of Ronald Richardson and his friend Susan Dahlstrom removed the city and county of Fresno as defendants. The lawsuit also names the California Department of Housing and Community Development, which has oversight of mobile home parks.

Following the man’s death, Trail’s End went into receivership. After leaving receivership, Stockton-based Harmony Communities purchased the park, beginning years of litigation among the company, tenants, and the city over evictions and rent increases.

Park Ownership Accused of Negligence

Richardson’s family and Dahlstrom accused park owner Joan Kevorkian of negligence.

Park ownership had been cited numerous times for fire hazards before Richardson’s death.

Trash, old appliances, and combustible debris had built up at the mobile home park near Blackstone and Sierra avenues, according to the lawsuit. And, there were several fires there before the one causing Richardson’s death.

The lawsuit stated that he and Dahlstrom were trapped when the fire began.

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Three months before the fire, the state Department of Housing and Community Development had suspended the park’s license to operate. The failure to shut the park down or enforce orders led plaintiffs to originally include the city and county of Fresno in the lawsuit.

“Although Defendants should have known about the danger, they did nothing to fix the problem or adequately warn (Richardson),” the lawsuit stated.

Kevorkian’s insurance company did its own investigation, agreeing to pay out the maximum $1 million.

Housing and Community Development still has to accept the terms off the settlement, according to the order filed June 20.

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Trailer Park’s Future Still Unknown

After taking over the park, Harmony sought to increase rents by 150%. The new owners also evicted more than half of tenants. The company said it spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to fix the park.

The city denied Harmony’s request to more than double rents, allowing a minimal hike based on inflation. The company then tried closing the park, but a Fresno County Superior Court judge put an injunction on Harmony, stopping the closure and more evictions.