Coleman v. Fire Ins. Patrol

Citations

• 122 La. 626
• 48 So. 130
• 1908 La. LEXIS 505

Syllabus

<p>1. Charities (§ 45*) — Eire Insurance Patrol — Negligence—Liabilities.</p> <p>Defendant, an association organized under Act No. 115, p. 186. of 1902, composed of insurance companies doing business in New Orleans, and having authority to maintain a corps of men and suitable apparatus to save life and property at and after fires, and which is supported by assessments levied on all persons, natural or artificial, engaged in the fire insurance business in said city, is a private association, whose, main purpose, as appears from a reasonable construction of the law under which it is established, is to minimize the losses and promote the pecuniary interests of its members, and is neither a public corporation nor a public charity, and it is liable in damages for injuries sustained by a member of the fire department, engaged in the discharge of his duties, as the result of the negligence of its servants in driving one of its vehicles through the streets of the city; and this, notwithstanding that the statute referred to includes the saving of life among the purposes for which such associations may be established, and prohibits them from charging for their services or from distinguishing between insured and uninsured property.</p> <p>[Ed. Note. — For other cases, see Charities, Cent. Dig. § 103; Dec. Dig. § 45.*]</p> <p>2. Municipal Corporations (§ 705*) — Use oe Streets — Right of Way — Fire Department-Insurance Patrol.</p> <p>Construing Act No. 83, p. 114, of 1894, granting the right of way through the streets of New Orleans to the fire department, with Act No. 115, p. 186, of 1902, granting a similar right to the fire insurance patrol, it is clear that whilst, as between the patrol and the public, such right is vested in the patrol, the right granted to the fire department is paramount to, and is wholly unaffected by, that granted to the patrol.</p> <p>[Ed. Note. — For other cases, see Municipal Corporations, Cent. Dig. § 1515; Dec. Dig. § 705.*]</p> <p>Provosty, J., d