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Res Ipsa Loquitur Proof Requirements Not Met Re: Cause of Fire

A fire apparently started in the vicinity of a gas grill resulting in the destruction of an apartment building.  In affirming summary judgment granted to the defendants, the Third Department noted that an unsigned report from the fire department was properly ignored by the motion court and plaintiff was not entitled to an inference of negligence based on the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur:

…[P]laintiff has not established its entitlement to an inference of negligence pursuant to the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur. To do so, plaintiff was required to demonstrate, among other things, that the fire was one that ordinarily would not have occurred in the absence of defendants’ negligence….   While plaintiff need not have eliminated every alternative explanation for the event, it was required to demonstrate that the probability of other causes was so reduced that defendants’ negligence was more likely than not to have caused the injury….  In view of plaintiff’s failure to proffer any admissible evidence – or, indeed, any evidence whatsoever based upon more than pure speculation – that negligence was a factor in the cause of the fire, plaintiff has not met its burden of demonstrating that res ipsa loquitor applies … .  92 Court Street…. v Monnet, et al, 514458, 3rd Dept, 5-30-13

 

 

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