TORTS-DUTY TO CUT WEEDS AROUND OIL WAREHOUSE-INJURY CAUSED BY OCCURRENCE OTHER THAN THAT FOR WHICH DUTY WAS RAISED

Authors

Abstract

Plaintiff's house was located some 400 feet northeast of a wooden warehouse used by defendant for the storage of oils and grease. South and west of the warehouse lay a peet bog, and, between the bog and the defendant's ware. house and entirely on defendant's property was a 25-foot stretch of grass which defendant had neglected to cut down. A smouldering fire in the peet bog flared up under the influence of a strong wind, swept across the land of defendant, set fire to the warehouse and, eventually, crossed a full-width paved street and destroyed plaintiff's house. Held, though the use of the warehouse for the storage of oils and grease created the duty to use due care (as to spading the ground and cutting the grass in the vicinity), plaintiff's recovery was not dependent upon proof that the fire which was communicated to his house had actually ignited the oil and grease in the warehouse. Riley v. Standard Oil Co. of Indiana, (Wis. 1934) 252 N. W. 183.

Recommended Citation

TORTS-DUTY TO CUT WEEDS AROUND OIL WAREHOUSE-INJURY CAUSED BY OCCURRENCE OTHER THAN THAT FOR WHICH DUTY WAS RAISED, 32 Mich. L. Rev. 870 (1934).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol32/iss6/14