Liability for fire damage under Rylands v Fletcher

In Farzad Harooni and Federal Motors Manufacturers Ltd v Rustins Ltd [2011] EWHC 1632 (TCC) the defendant company that had stored flammable material in its warehouse and was sued under the rule in Rylands v Fletcher when damage caused to nearby properties following a fire.

Facts

Harooni and his company, Federal Motors brought a claim against the Rustins Ltd in negligence and under the rule in Rylands v Fletcher . The claimants occupied, a warehouse attached to Rustins’ paint-storage warehouse and other warehouses. A fire started in one of these other warehouses but spread to Rustins and from there to the warehouse of Federal Motors. The claimants sued Rustins arguing that because highly flammable materials were stored in Rustins’ warehouse the ignition of the flammable materials had caused the fire to spread from to the claimants’ warehouse.