Complaint Review: Bob Allard - Portsmouth New Hampshire

Check www.seacoastonline.com Sunday Feb 18, 2001. Critical exerpts include: "The state fire marshal ruled it arson in December and the investigation continues today." "Bradford Sherman of Newmarket painfully saw the fire's red and orange hues up close and personal. He showed up at the warehouse about 10 minutes before the fire was spotted at about 10 a.m. He had shipped several items to the warehouse that he received from his father's estate. Sherman showed up that Friday morning to retrieve the items, which included family heirlooms and paintings by Stowell Bradford Sherman, a New England landscape artist, famous for his work around Rockport in the early 1900s. Sherman never took possession of his inherited items that also included antique books and paintings he described in sum as being a museum. Fate and fire took prized items from him. Sherman said he fought long and hard to settle with his insurance company. While he met that challenge, he remains unsettled about the fire because a criminal has yet to be punished for destroying invaluable personal items. "It is frustrating that an investigation has not come up with the person who is responsible for this," Sherman said. "I have to say that." Sherman said he filed an initial four-page report with authorities on the day of the fire. Authorities asked him to keep the report confidential during the investigation. But frustration over the investigation led him to speak out. As did his claims that Allard employees did nothing to douse the fire when it was first spotted, a claim adamantly denied by the Allards. Sherman said he was inside the building when the fire was spotted and he was the only non-employee to witness the inception of the blaze. "The fire was very, very small," he said. "When it started, they ordered me out of the building. When I look back on it, there's no way they couldn't have put it out. Now that they say it's arson, it doesn't surprise me. "The fire was in infancy easily for five to six minutes. You didn't have that much burning going on, and there was no response from the Allard's (employees). They didn't do anything. People walked out of the building; no one was coughing; everyone was walking." ______________________

Bob may not be just blowing smoke about being a victim of libel. * Peter has no firsthand knowledge of what happened inside the warehouse on the day of the fire. * Neither the fire investigators or the insurance company ruled that the fire was a case of arson. The insurance company could've refused to pay even without an official verdict if they were confident that fraud was committed. * Bob's company was not legally obligated to pay more than the $0.60 per pound for customers' property lost in the fire. When moving, always be sure you are covered by your own insurance if you care about the property being lost or damaged.

Charming that Robert D. Allard of North Andover MA comes to his father's defence. Pretty easy for him to do when his new company was funded by the proceeds of the insurance payment. Search old issues of seacoastonline for news coverage of the story. Of course, with Allard's connection in local politics and palm greasing, there will be no mention of his role in setting up the arson. And no, it's not slander if it's true, is it?

That makes it lible, if it's not true. Is it?

Slander is illegal, no matter how you do it. It is punishable by fines and imprisonment. Please avoid this by removing this slanderous comment.