DUNNELLON, Fla. – Victims of the Dunnellon Rainbow River railroad tie fire have filed a motion asking the U.S. District Court to remand their proposed class action back to the Circuit Court of the Fifth Judicial Circuit in Marion County, Florida.
The move comes after defendants CSX Transportation and Florida Northern Railroad Company filed a joint notice on June 10 removing the case from state court to federal court, arguing that the lawsuit met the legal requirements for federal jurisdiction.
In the Motion for Remand, filed on behalf of the plaintiffs by Miami-based law firm The G Law Group, the plaintiffs contend that the case belongs in Florida’s judicial system. They argue that because the fire occurred in Florida, the harm impacted a Florida community, and the proposed class consists of Florida residents, the dispute is inherently local.
The motion also asserts that the removal was procedurally defective due to a failure to establish unanimous consent among the defendants, and notes that all legal claims arise entirely under Florida law rather than federal statutes.
“This is not a dispute that affects interstate commerce, multiple states, or people from all over the country,” said Simeon Genadiev of The G Law Group. “It is a disaster that unfolded in the heart of a single Florida community. A disaster that impacted the Florida residents, workers, property owners, and businesses around the site of this localized fire. They deserve the opportunity to seek justice for their damages.”
Genadiev added that the case represents “exactly the kind of local controversy that Florida’s courts are intended to hear,” stating that “the community has lived through the consequences of this fire first hand, and it is only right that those claims are heard where the harm occurred.”
The lawsuit, originally brought against CSX Transportation, Track Line Rail, and Florida Northern Railroad Company, alleges that the companies repeatedly ignored warnings from local authorities prior to the blaze. Weeks before flames engulfed approximately 100,000 creosote-soaked railroad ties near the Rainbow River, Marion County officials had ordered the responsible companies to clear the materials.
According to the complaint, the ties were stored in an unsecured manner near residential homes and the ecologically sensitive Rainbow River. The resulting Feb. 1 fire sent thick black smoke and ash across surrounding neighborhoods, prompting Marion County Commissioners to declare a state of emergency on Feb. 3.
Creosote, a coal tar derivative used to treat railroad ties, is classified by the Environmental Protection Agency as a Group B1 probable human carcinogen. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry identifies roughly 300 chemicals within creosote, many of which are linked to neurological damage and various cancers, including skin, lung, liver, and leukemia.
Filed by Genadiev on behalf of named plaintiffs Curtis Trammell and Christopher Bryant Crabtree, the lawsuit proposes a class that could encompass thousands of individuals living or working within 30 miles of the fire site.
The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory damages for property loss, diminished property value, loss of use, out-of-pocket expenses, lost income, and other financial harms, as well as punitive damages. Additionally, the lawsuit requests the creation of a court-supervised medical monitoring fund to cover ongoing health screenings for community members exposed to the toxic smoke.
“Our focus is the health and safety of this community,” Genadiev said. “County and city officials warned these companies. The Fire Marshal warned them. They chose to take the risk anyway. This lawsuit is about holding corporations accountable for treating the safety of a community as an acceptable line item on a balance sheet.”
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