(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Five months after a faulty recliner burned a house down in Illinois, a Missouri man is suing the popular furniture company that makes them.
The lawsuit comes after an Ashley Furniture recliner caused a house fire in Round Lake Beach in July.
Prosecutors say a similar product, the “Party Time Dual Power Reclining Loveseat," which has since been recalled, caused a fire at Jeffrey Jones' home in St. Louis on May 13.
"That night Jeff was sleeping. He was awoken by an inferno in his apartment," Jones' attorney Bryce Hensley said. "Flames filled the air, smoke filled his lungs. Jeff was trapped."
He also said Jones suffered burns to his head, neck, back, arms and face, which happened due to the "negligence an recklessness of Ashley Furniture."
"It makes me feel helpless and weak. I couldn’t breathe for myself or walk on my own after I got burned. For the first time in my life, I had no control of my body or my life," Jones said in a statement.
"Please understand I am grateful for being alive, and for the care I received in the hospital, but my body is not the same. My mind is not the same and I’m so ashamed that I couldn’t save myself."
The lawsuit, which seeks more than $25,000 to compensate for injuries and damages, alleges that Ashley Furniture was aware of at least five other fires caused by a defective battery in the recliners.
Hensley said that "Ashley Furniture especially, given their knowledge of the defective, dangerous qualities of their product, because of their knowledge of prior instances, and because they were a company that was concerned with cutting corners at the expense of worker and consumer safety" should be held accountable.
In a statement, Ashley Furniture said they would "like to express our heartfelt sympathies to the individual affected by this incident."
The company claimed that the lawsuit filed on Dec. 11 was the first notice that Ashley Furniture received regarding the fire, and officials said they planned to formally respond to the complaint in court. The spokesperson added that Ashley Furniture "has offered to provide replacement cup holders that posed a potential fire hazard."
On June 8, 2023, Ashley Furniture recalled more than 250,000 items of furniture from the Party Time collection due to the defective LED battery.
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