Insurance company seeks $226K from hookah lounge it claims caused Clark Street building fire

A company that operated a hookah bar on Chicago's North Side is being accused of causing a fire that caused more than a quarter of a million dollars in damages to a building.

IL EMASCO Insurance Co., as subrogee of Buck Miller LLC, filed suit April 1 in the Cook County Circuit Court against Mellow Moods Inc., doing business as Samah Hookah Lounge Chicago.

According to the insurance company, Samah Hookah Lounge was responsible for an October fire that damaged the building at 3328 N. Clark St. in Chicago's Lakeview-Wrigleville area. Buck Miller LLC owned the building and EMASCO insured it.

The insurance company claims Samah had a practice of throwing burnt smoking materials into a plastic garbage can near the back of the building, where the fire allegedly originated, and as such, should be responsible for the $226,239.56 in damage caused to the building.

Samah closed its Clark Street location following the fire, but currently operates a lounge in Rogers Park, according its website.

The insurance company is being represented by Chicago attorneys Steven R. Johnson and Andrew R. Stuart of Langhenry, Gillen, Lundquist & Johnson LLC.

Cook County Circuit Court Case No. 2014L003690.

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed in the Cook County Circuit Court. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note, a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt, and it only represents one side of the story.