Smith v. J.C. Penney Co., Inc.

525 P.2d 1299 (1974)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

P was badly burned when a gasoline fire broke out in a service station and ignited an allegedly highly inflammable 'fake fur' coat worn by plaintiff. A gasoline line on a car was being blown out with the air pressure hose used to inflate tires. So much force was applied to the gasoline line that it blew a spray of gasoline out of the vehicle's opened tank and through an open door into the waiting room where there was a floor heater. P was in the waiting room when the floor heater ignited the gasoline on the floor which in turn ignited her coat, and she became a human torch. Defendants McCabe and Slagh, dba The Central Enco Service Station, operated the service station. The defendant J.C. Penney Company sold the coat to P. The defendant Bunker-Ramo allegedly supplied the fabric used by Roseda in manufacturing the coat. The jury returned a verdict for $600,000 against the Enco Service Station and Bunker-Ramo, who appeal.