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Red Hill Hosiery Mill5/16/2000
Appeal by plaintiff from order for summary judgment filed 12 January 1999 and from order filed 29 January 1999 by Judge Loto Greenlee Caviness in Catawba County Superior Court. Heard in the Court of Appeals 22 February 2000.
Red Hill Hosiery Mill, Inc. (Plaintiff) appeals from an order granting summary judgment for MagneTek, Inc. (MagneTek) and Lithonia Lighting, Inc., a division of National Services Industries, Inc. (Lithonia) (collectively, Defendants) entered 12 January 1999, and an order denying Plaintiff's motions for reconsideration, to amend the judgment, and for relief from the judgment entered 29 January 1999.
Plaintiff is the owner of a building located in Hickory, North Carolina, which was damaged by fire in March of 1996. Plaintiff alleges in its complaint the fire "began as a result of the malfunctioning of the ballast within a fluorescent lighting fixture" located in the building. It is further alleged the ballast and fluorescent light fixture, purchased in 1991, were "designed, manufactured and/or distributed by efendants" who are, pursuant to "N.C.G.S. ยง 99B-1," responsible for the damage. Plaintiff asserts claims of negligence and breach of implied warranty of merchantability against both Defendants. As for the negligence claims, it is alleged Defendants negligently produced, designed, manufactured, assembled, and inspected the ballast and fluorescent lighting fixture. As for the breach of implied warranty claim, it is alleged Defendants warranted the ballast and fluorescent lighting fixture to be of "merchantable quality," "reasonably fit for the purposes for which [they were] intended," and that they were "not reasonably fit for the purposes for which [they were] intended, but [were] instead defective."
The record reveals that during the early morning hours of 13 March 1996, a fire destroyed Plaintiff's greige manufacturing mill (the mill) located in Hickory, North Carolina. Hickory Fire Marshall Tommy Richard Bradshaw (Bradshaw), two agents of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, and the Fire Inspector of the City of Hickory (collectively, the investigators) investigated the fire to determine its cause and origin. By interpreting the fire patterns, the investigators determined the area of origin of the fire was one of the flourescent light fixtures in the mill. This particular fluorescent light fixture sustained more damage than the adjacent fluorescent light fixtures in the mill.
The cover of the fluorescent light fixture was off, there was oxidation on the fixture, indicative of exposure to high temperatures, and it displayed a discoloration on top of the fixture that indicated a specific area of heating, which was consistent with the location of the ballast installed on the underside of the fixture. Bradshaw testified if these heat patterns were caused by an external heat source as opposed to an internal heat source within the fixture, he would expect to see similar discoloration patterns on the adjacent fluorescent light fixtures. The investigators examined the adjacent fluorescent light fixtures and did not observe any similar discoloration patterns. The investigators were unable to find any faults within the fixture or its power cord, excluding the ballast.
The investigators concluded the fire was caused by the ignition of lint following the overheating of the ballast within the flourescent light fixture. The investigators excluded all other possible sources of the fire, including the mill's electrical and mechanical systems.
After the investigators made their determination, Bradshaw released the fire scene to Plaintiff in order to begin its clean-up efforts. Bradshaw was satisfied he had establi
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