NOCO Energy Corp. has filed a countersuit in connection with a propane tank explosion last summer that destroyed a Town of Wilson home, injuring several members of the Jody Johnson family, one fatally. At issue is why Johnson connected his home heating system from a NOCO-installed tank to another tank that had been filled at a Tuscorora Indian Reservation store the night before the July 24 explosion.
14-year-old Sarah Johnson was killed in the blast.
The Johnson family filed suit against NOCO on October 26. Attorneys for the family say NOCO did not properly address their complaints about a gas odor they detected in the house and they would not have connected the temporary 100-pound tank had the issue been addressed.
NOCO's countersuit places the blame for the blast on Johnson, and possibly on the Tuscorora retailer, for filling and installing the backup tank.
An attorney for the family calls the countersuit NOCO's attempt "to deflect blame for this horrific incident."