A tenant storing used lithium batteries sparked a deadly fire in a residential building in Sangzhi County, Hunan, on November 16, 2024. The blaze, which originated in Room 203, claimed the lives of seven people in Room 303, including a woman identified as Tian Jia and her daughter Tian Yi. Following the incident, the local township government entered into compensation advance agreements with the victims' relatives, transferring 984,600 yuan into a community account for supervised disbursement. Yu, the ex-husband of Tian Jia and father of Tian Yi, had already collected the advanced compensation for his daughter but failed to secure the 984,600 yuan designated for his former wife, prompting him to sue the township government for payment. He argued that since Tian Jia's compensation rightfully belonged to their daughter, he should inherit it after her death.

Court documents from the China Judgments Online database show that the Zhangjiajie Intermediate People's Court in Hunan recently issued a second-instance ruling. Both the initial trial and the appeal rejected Yu's claims. The first-instance court established that Yu and Tian Jia married in December 2009 and welcomed their daughter Tian Yi in June 2010. The couple divorced in January 2013, with an agreement stipulating that Tian Yi would be directly raised by Tian Jia.

Shortly after 4:30 a.m. on the day of the incident, the fire ignited due to the tenant Song's improper storage of used lithium batteries, causing the deaths of Tian Jia, Tian Yi, and five others. In the aftermath, the township government managed the relief efforts, signing compensation advance agreements with the families or relatives of the deceased, and disbursing the corresponding funds. Yu received the compensation for Tian Yi as her father, while the agreement for Tian Jia was signed by her aunt and a cousin named Wang. The terms outlined compensation for death damages, funeral expenses, and mental distress damages, totaling 1,084,600 yuan. Of this amount, 100,000 yuan was designated for Wang to handle funeral arrangements for Tian Jia, while the remaining 984,600 yuan was deposited into a supervised community account on November 20, 2024. The funds were to be released directly to the respective beneficiaries' personal bank accounts only after the parties reached a consensus on distribution or following a court judgment. Once the advance was transferred to the supervised account, the rights of the beneficiaries to claim damages from the liable party were assigned to the township government, which would pursue recovery from the responsible party. Song also signed the agreement in consent, and the funds are currently held under community oversight, leaving Yu's request unfulfilled.

The first-instance court determined that the township government was not a suitable defendant in this case, as it had advanced the compensation solely for the purposes of timely relief and social conflict resolution, and it was neither the liable party nor an heir or estate administrator. The court held that Yu's claim that the government infringed upon his property inheritance rights lacked factual and legal basis, thus dismissing his lawsuit. After Yu appealed, the second-instance court upheld the original ruling and rejected his demands.

According to a separate report from Jimu News on the day of the incident, the building was a residential complex, and the victims comprised a family of seven across three generations. A subsequent investigation report released by the Zhangjiajie Emergency Management Bureau on May 27, 2025, revealed that the fire started in Room 203 due to the stored used lithium batteries and rapidly spread to Room 303 through a storage space. All victims were located in Room 303. Song bore direct responsibility for the incident and was placed under criminal investigation by the Sangzhi County Public Security Bureau on November 17, 2024, on suspicion of negligent arson, with authorities recommending criminal liability.