Redwing Carriers, Inc. v. Helwig
Decision Date | 16 January 1959 |
Docket Number | No. 587,587 |
Parties | REDWING CARRIERS, INC., Appellant, v. Lewis L. HELWIG, Appellee. |
Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
T. Paine Kelly, Jr., of Macfarlane, Ferguson, Allison & Kelly, Tampa, for appellant.
T. Truett Ott, of Hardee & Ott, Tampa, for appellee.
This is an appeal from the granting of a motion for new trial to the appellee-plaintiff in a negligence suit. Appellee, below, sued the Redwing Carriers, Inc., and charged the defendant with negligence arising out of an explosion which occurred at the loading depot of Sinclair Oil Company in Tampa on December 11, 1954. The gist of his complaint was that at the time of injury he was employed by Sinclair Refining Company with his principal employment that of a watchman, but also he assisted the other employees in filling various trucks with gasoline; that the truck of the defendant was unsafe for the loading and transportation of gasoline, and that repairs consisting of welding were done to said truck a short time prior to the explosion. It was further charged that the truck had been heated to a dangerously hot temperature which created a hazardous and dangerous condition for the loading of gasoline, which hazardous and dangerous condition the defendant knew or should have known. By the second count of his complaint the plaintiff also charged that the heat from welding was contained in scum or other foreign substance, which had been allowed to remain in the compartment where the welding work was done and that the welding had left sparks in the said scum or foreign substance. The doctrine of res ipsa loquitur was not involved.
To this complaint there were filed defenses denying negligence and asserting that the plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence.
There was another suit filed against the defendant by another plaintiff which was consolidated and tried with this case. The jury returned not guilty verdicts in both cases and both plaintiffs filed motions for new trials. The trial court denied the motion for new trial filed by one plaintiff but granted the same as to the plaintiff herein. It is from the order granting a new trial that the defendant appeals.
In his order granting the new trial the trial court stated in part:
As required by Section 59.07, Florida Statutes 1957, F.S.A., this appeal is restricted to the grounds for new trial specified in the order.
In reviewing the case we will rule on grounds numbered 2, 3 and 5 in the trial court's order. The other grounds, in view of our decision, will necessarily be comprehended within our ruling on grounds 2, 3 and 5.
It will be noted that in ground 2 the trial court held that the verdict of the jury does not accord with the manifest weight of the evidence and the substantial justice of the case, while in ground 3 the trial court held that there was insufficient evidence to warrant the court in instructing the jury on contributory negligence, and ground 5 is a combination of this charge on contributory negligence and confusion of the jury concerning the same.
For the purpose of clarifying this opinion it will be necessary that we give a brief re sume of the facts as shown by the testimony. The evidence does not pin point the time from the welding operation until the time of loading the truck with gasoline, but it was from fifty minutes to one hour and forty-five minutes. The expert witnesses stated that in their opinion five minutes after welding the metal its temperature was below the minimum heat required for explosion of gasoline vapor and ten minutes later its temperature was 110 degrees Fahrenheit and fifteen minutes later its temperature had returned to normal. Keeping in mind that the experts had testified that it would be impossible to build up and maintain a temperature in the metal of a tank carrier which would meet the requirement of 800 to 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit necessary to the explosion of gasoline vapor, they also stated that it was their opinion that the explosion was due to a static spark resulting from the turbulence created in the loading of the gasoline and coinciding for an instant with the creation of a flammable or explosive mixture of gasoline vapor and air. Also in testimony, they gave as their opinion that a static spark had a temperature of 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. It appears that the explosion from a static spark could not occur in a purged tank or in one which had previously contained an inert liquid, because gasoline vapor will not explode unless it is in a mixture of air having not less than 94% air nor more than 98 1/2% air. It was explained that this mixture could only occur from a brief period of filling a tank which was free of gasoline vapor, because otherwise the percentage of such vapor in the tank would remain much higher than the explosive range, or 'too rich to ignite.'
Upon the question of whether or not the defendant had proved sufficient elements of contributory negligence for that issue to go to the jury, we are satisfied that it did. The complaint, the answer and all of the evidence touching on contributory negligence has been reviewed in connection with the charges given by the trial court; hence we hold that there being sufficient evidence of the plaintiff's contributory negligence, the trial court was not in error in charging the jury as it did. Among his instructions to the jury, referring to contributory negligence, the trial judge stated:
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