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Davis v. Byram9/19/2000
Plaintiffs, Lawanda Davis, Patricia Wordlaw, Angela Wordlaw, Stephanie Greer and Forice Nowden (hereafter collectively referred to as Davis), brought an action against defendant, Barbara A. Byram, under the theories of negligence per se and common law negligence arising from a fire at Byram's building. Davis appeals from the trial court's judgment granting Byram's motion for summary judgment. We affirm.
On March 12, 1999, a fire occurred at 1436 Salisbury in the City of St. Louis and six children died. The police charged an individual with six counts of murder, arson and other crimes for setting the fire. Byram was the owner, landlord and manager of the property known and numbered as 1436 Salisbury in the City of St. Louis. She rented portions of the first, second and third floors of the property to tenants and there was no fire escape on the exterior of the building. A report by the City of St. Louis Fire Department reflects that the six children who died were found on the "third level" of the building.
The second amended petition pleaded an action for wrongful death and damages. Davis alleged that section 320.010 imposed a duty on Byram to provide a fire escape "in relation to the third floor," and this failure was negligence per se. Davis also alleged common law negligence. On motion of Byram, the trial court granted summary judgment in her favor.
The guidelines for our review of summary judgment are set forth in the oft-cited ITT Commercial Finance Corp. v. Mid-America Marine Supply Corp., 854 S.W.2d 371 (Mo. banc 1993).
Davis first argues that the trial court erred in granting Byram's motion for summary judgment as to the negligence per se counts because section 320.010 "placed a duty on the defendant landlord to provide a fire escape reaching the height of the third story." Section 320.010 provides in part:
It shall be the duty of the owner, proprietor, lessee, trustee, or keeper of every hotel, boarding and lodging house, tenement house, schoolhouse, opera house, theatre, music hall, factory, office building, except fireproof office buildings in which all structural parts are wholly of brick, stone, tile, concrete, reinforced concrete, iron, steel, or incombustible material, and which are not used for lodging purposes in the state of Missouri, and every building therein where people congregate or which is used for a business place or for public or private assemblages, which has a height of three or more stories, to provide said structure with iron or steel stair or tubular fire escapes attached to the exterior of said building and by staircases located in the interior of said building.
In her motion for summary judgment, Byram asserted that under the 1996 BOCA National Building Code (BOCA Code), adopted by the City of St. Louis, she was both prohibited from installing a fire escape and was not required to build a fire escape from the third floor of the building. Byram also asserted that under section 320.020 the attachment and construction of fire escapes to buildings within a city are subject to the approval and supervision of the commissioner or superintendent of public buildings. This section provides that "When fire escapes are to be attached to buildings within a city, they shall be constructed under the supervision of and subject to the approval of the commissioner or superintendent of public buildings within such city . . .." Byram further asserted that under section 320.030 the number of fire escapes to be attached to a building, as required in Chapter 320, shall be determined by the commissioner or superintendent of public buildings. Section 320.030 provides that "The number of fire escapes to be attached to an
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