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Aerosole Sys.5/4/1998
JAMES D. SWEENEY, Judge.
Plaintiff-appellant and cross-appellee Aerosol System, Inc. ("Aerosol") appeals from a jury verdict in favor of defendant-appellee and cross-appellant Wells Fargo Alarm Services, Inc. ("Wells Fargo"). The appellant, who contracted with the appellee for the provision of fire alarm services, filed suit seeking recovery from losses suffered after a fire at its facility in Macedonia, Ohio. Since the record and the transcript for this case are voluminous, only the essential facts are set forth herein, and, where necessary, additional facts are given in the individual assignments of error.
On December 13, 1992, the appellee received a fire alarm signal from Aerosol's Macedonia facility. As permitted under the provisions of the contract, Wells Fargo first contacted a designated employee of Aerosol and subsequently notified the Macedonia Fire Department. The fire ultimately caused approximately $15,700,000 in property damages. The appellant contended that the appellee should have investigated trouble signals received in the days and hours prior to the fire alarm signal and that the fire itself originated from within the electrical panel controlling the Wells Fargo alarm system. The appellee argued that the origin of the fire was not within the electrical panel and that the decisions regarding the trouble signals were not improper.
Prior to the fire, Wells Fargo received numerous trouble signals from its fire alarm system at the appellant's plant. By design, the alarm system has an internal monitoring system. This system issues a trouble signal to report possible maintenance problems. A trouble signal may be sounded for many reasons, including a short circuit along the heat detector wires, a power outage for the factory's electrical line which normally supplies the alarm system's energy, low power for the backup battery, or telephone line problems. These maintenance signals are transmitted to Wells Fargo's central operating station, where the operators must respond in some manner. A trouble signal cannot impair the system's ability to detect fires or to transmit an actual fire alarm signal.
The central operating system has two computers, the central multiple processor ("CMP") and the operations information system ("OIS"). Upon receipt of a trouble signal, the CMP emits a high-pitched noise and activates a warning light; the OIS beeps. The operator must press the acknowledgment button on the CMP and key in a response on the OIS. The trouble signal will either lock in, indicating that the condition causing the trouble signal must be corrected, or will automatically reset, meaning the condition causing the trouble signal has ceased.
On December 10, 1992, Wells Fargo received five trouble signals from the Aerosol facility in Macedonia. Although sixty-one more signals were received between December 12, 1992 and December 13, 1992, there were no signals received in the six hours before the fire signal was received. Each of these maintenance signals received at the central operating station automatically reset.
On the afternoon of December 12, 1992, the operator prepared a service order for a service technician to investigate the Aerosol trouble signals. The investigation had not begun before the fire alarm signal sounded. In addition, at approximately 3:00 p.m., an Aerosol employee telephoned Wells Fargo, requesting reactivation of the Halon gas detection system. During this conversation, the employee asked whether everything was in order. The operator responded that everything was okay.
Yvonne Musgrave, an employee of Wells Fargo, testified that she was assigned as a central station opera
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