Stephenson v. Pennsylvania Railroad

Citations

• 20 Pa. Super. 157
• 1902 Pa. Super. LEXIS 200

Syllabus

<p>Railroads — Fire by sparks — Burning of woodland — Accumulation of rubbish on right of way — Negligence—Province of court and jury.</p> <p>In an action against a railroad company to recover damages for injuries to property resulting from a fire communicated from engines where the only negligence alleged is the improper construction or management of the company’s engines, the burden is on the plaintiff to prove that the fire was communicated by some engine of the company, and also to prove negligence in the construction or management of the engines. Such facts, however, may be established by circumstantial evidence. This rule, however, does not mean that no other negligence except in the construction or management of the engine can be alleged and proved as the ground of recovery. Thus the negligent accumulation of combustible rubbish on the right of way to which fire may be communicated by sparks and from which fire may be communicated to neighboring woodlands may be the basis of recovery for the destruction of such woodlands.</p> <p>In an action against a railroad company to recover damages for the burning of woodland, the plaintiff alleged negligence in the construction and management of the defendants’ engines, and also that the defendant negligently permitted combustible material to accumulate on its right of way, the evidence showed that near the plaintiff’s woodlands and on the defendants’ property, weeds, briars and bushes had been cut and allowed to remain, and that the accumulation had been added to by leaves blown by the wind and caught in the brush. A witness for the plaintiff testified that the tire started in the accumulation of rubbish, that it began after a train liad passed, that at the point where the fire started, there was a heavy grade, and that the engines going up the grade emitted sparks and cinders. Defendants’ witnesses testified that the fire originated on the plaintiff’s land and spread towards the railroad. There was no evidence of the