Spread of fire held not to trigger liability under rule in Rylands v Fletcher

In Stannard (t/a Wyvern Tyres) v Gore [2012] EWCA Civ 1248, [2012] All ER (D) 44 (Oct) the Court of Appeal held that the spread of a fire from the defendant’s tyre-fitting business did not fall within the scope of the rule in Rylands v Fletcher. It was held that the tyres were not exceptionally dangerous, they had not, in any event, escaped from the defendant’s land and the business carried on by the defendant did not amount to an extraordinary or unusual use of land. The liability of the defendant, if any, lay in negligence and, given that it had not been established that the defendant had failed to exercise reasonable care, there was no liability on the defendant arising from the fire.