Union Supply & Milling Corp. v. City of Los Angeles
Union Supply & Milling Corp. v. City of Los Angeles
Opinion of the Court
This appeal is by defendants from a judgment in plaintiffs’ favor in the total sum of $7,000 for damages resulting from the burning of an alfalfa milling plant.
Plaintiff Union Supply and Milling Corporation was the owner of a milling plant used in the manufacture of alfalfa meal through the processing of alfalfa hay. Electricity was furnished by defendants for lighting and power purposes in the operation of the mill, defendant Laner being the employee of the other defendants and the person whose negligence caused the fire. For the purpose of furnishing electricity defendants supplied, constructed, installed and maintained the necessary wires, transformers, meters and testing devices. The fire resulted from the negligence of defendant Laner in performing certain tests and alterations in and about these instrumentalities while the mill was in operation. The plaintiffs other than Union Supply and Milling Corporation are insurance companies which have derived their rights in the litigation through subrogation.
Defendants alleged that the plaintiff milling corporation was guilty of contributory negligence but the trial court found adversely to them on this contention. The only contention made by appellants on appeal is that this finding of the court is not supported by the evidence. Defendants introduced in evidence an ordinance of the city of Los Angeles in which it is provided: “(A) No person shall permit the accumulation of any explosive or inflammable dust in quantities sufficient to create a fire or explosion hazard on electric motors, walls, ledges or other interior surfaces on which dust
The record discloses a conflict in the evidence on the question whether the milling corporation complied with the terms of the ordinance and whether any negligence was shown in the operation of the mill. Evidence was introduced on behalf of the milling company to show that no accumulation of explosive or inflammable dust was permitted, that the plant was equipped with a proper dust-collecting system which was properly operated and that the plant was kept in a clean condition. The witness Hoffman, an expert of 20 years experience testified that the dust-collecting system used in the mill was the system usually and ordinarily installed in mills of the kind and that it was 99 per cent efficient, it being impossible to entirely prevent the escape of some dust into the air by the use of the most modern and efficient appliances. The findings are supported by the evidence.
The judgment is affirmed.
Moore, P. J., and MeComb, J., concurred.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.