Blasius v. Angel Automotive, Inc.

Dist. Ct. erred in granting defendant’s motion for summary judgment in action alleging that defendant was negligent in performing certain repairs/upgrades on plaintiff’s truck that caused said truck to catch fire. While Dist. Ct. found that plaintiff could not prove causation where his expert did not state that fire was more likely than not caused by defendant’s repair work, Ct. of Appeals found that expert’s overall assessment created triable issue on causation question, where expert indicated that fluid system leak(s) constituted most likely scenario for fire, and where defendant’s repair work encompassed removal and reattachment of all relevant fluid lines in plaintiff’s truck. Moreover, record showed that fire started after plaintiff had driven truck 200 miles, and defendant’s personnel told plaintiff that fuel line leak may have started fire. Dist. Ct. also erred in finding that doctrine of res ipsa loquitur did not apply, where: (1) any reasonably probable causes of fire (i.e. fluid line leaks) were under defendant’s control during instant repair job; (2) while plaintiff was in possession of truck at time of fire, no other entity had performed services on fluid lines subsequent to instant repair; and (3) instant vehicle fire arising out of new parts does not occur as matter of course.