Charles Eneu Johnson Co. v. Philadelphia

Citations

• 236 Pa. 510
• 84 A. 1014
• 1912 Pa. LEXIS 789

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Municipalities — Repair of streets — Independent contractor — Evidence — Two actions.</p> <p>1. A municipality is not always relieved from liability for injuries resulting from the work of an independent contractor in repairing its streets. If the city requires a street to be kept open for use by the public while the repairs are being made, the duty rests upon it to maintain the street in a reasonably safe condition for every purpose of a public highway, and this applies not only to travel upon the street and to injuries resulting to travelers thereon, but also to the burning of a building abutting on the street caused by inflammable rubbish which had been deposited in the street, and which the city had permitted to remain there for a long period of time.</p> <p>2. In such a case the city is liable not only upon the ground that it caused the inflammable rubbish to be placed in the street, but because it failed to remove what amounted to a dangerous menace to the property abutting on the street, and to anticipate a fire communicating from the inflammable rubbish to nearby buildings.</p> <p>3. In an action to recover damages for the burning of a building communicated from inflammable rubbish deposited in the street by a city contractor who was repairing the street, the trial judge commits no error in refusing to admit in evidence the record of a suit against the contractor for the same injury.</p> <p>4. The plaintiff was clearly within his legal rights in instituting two suits on the theory that one party or the other, or perhaps both had committed the negligent acts about which complaint was made. In such cases, it sometimes happens that two separate t judgments can be recovered, but there can be only one satisfaction.</p>