As volunteers worked in November 2009 to rebuild the home of a Griswold family that suffered a series of tragedies, lead contractor Bruce P. “Bruno” Hayn says a section of roof that had been set on the ground “fell onto his back, crushing him onto the ground.”

Hayn, 54, of 31 Sashel Lane, Colchester, who was covered extensively by the media during heartwarming home building projects for the Landa and Girard families, has sued several contractors and businesses involved with the Landa project for negligence. Hayn claims he injured his back, chest and knees and is seeking to recover in excess of $15,000 for medical costs and loss of ability to work.

The lawsuit names as defendants Keith Aurand Construction of Miffington, Penn., Icon Legacy Custom Modular Homes of White Plains, N.Y., Tri-County Homes of Wallingford and Extreme Home 615 Foundation of Colchester.

Hayn claims that during the assembly process, the defendants “failed to safely and securely set roof sections of the modular home on the ground so as to prevent them from falling over, negligently failed to supervise the setting process, and negligently allowed a roof section that had been set on the ground to fall over.”

He is represented by attorney Michael Anderson, who could not be reached for comment.

Hayn, featured prominently in an Extreme Makeover TV show about the Girard family’s homebuilding, was in the news again this month after Norwich police charged him with burning down his wood pellet business on West Main Street in October 2010. According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Hayn admitted to setting the fire, for which he then filed an insurance claim, because he “wanted to move forward.”  He was scheduled for arraignment tomorrow in Superior Court in Norwich, but the case was postponed to Feb. 9.

In other court actions, Hayn is facing four civil lawsuits in New London Superior Court claiming he failed to pay bills. Chase Bank has sued him for $8,900 and Citibank for $5,614. He also been sued for failing to make $23,222 in payments on a Canon Copier and for not paying for Yellow Pages ads valued at $1,041.