Four insurance companies have filed a $2.2-million lawsuit against Pepperdine University to recover claims they had to pay to dozens of Baldwin Hills residents whose homes were damaged or

destroyed in an arson fire last July. Fire Insurance Exchange, Farmers Insurance Exchange, Truck Insurance Exchange and Mid-Century Insurance Co. said they had to pay $2,216,482 to Baldwin

Hills homeowners after the fire burned 66 homes and killed three people. The Superior Court suit claims that Pepperdine is partly responsible for the blaze because it neglected to clear

weeds growing on the university-owned land at La Brea Avenue, where the fire started. It also names the City of Los Angeles for failing to enforce an ordinance requiring that dry brush be