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Sears8/24/1995
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Long stored the new tank under the left side of his grill. Long put the tank there because "it just seemed like it was an appropriate place." Long's first use of the grill after storing the spare cylinder underneath the grill was on July 19, 1987. Long began grilling around 1:00 or 2:00 in the afternoon, and the temperature outside was around ninety degrees. After the grill had been on for about twenty minutes, Long "heard something poof." He could see a flame between the frame and the pit, and he opened the door underneath the grill. There was a flame coming out of the new tank. Long tried to put the flame out with a squirt can, but the flame leapt out. Long jumped off of the porch and began rolling in the grass. Long was burned on his arms and legs, and he was hospitalized for seven days.
Mike's accident occurred on May 28, 1989, Memorial Day. It was very hot outside. About 6:30 that evening, Mike turned on his grill, a Sunbeam product marketed under the Kenmore name, and preheated the grill for ten to fifteen minutes. He had a spare propane tank stored underneath the grill. Mike's wife, Paula, had experienced problems with one of the canisters venting when she had it filled in April. Based on assurances from the company that filled the canister that it was no longer venting, Mike stored the canister underneath the grill.
After Mike had been cooking about fifteen to twenty minutes, he pronounced dinner was ready, sent his kids inside to wash their hands for dinner, and then "felt the combustion." Mike sustained severe burns on 27% of his body, concentrated on his arms and legs.
We find that this prior accident occurred under reasonably similar circumstances to the accident in question to make Long's testimony admissible. See Missouri Pac. R.R., 563 S.W.2d at 236. Accordingly, appellant's fourth point of error is overruled.
EXEMPLARY DAMAGES
In points of error one, two, and three, appellants challenge the exemplary damage award arguing the evidence is legally insufficient to support the award. In determining a "no evidence" point, we are to consider only the evidence and inferences that tend to support the finding and disregard all evidence and inferences to the contrary. T.O. Stanley Boot Co., Inc. v. Bank of El Paso, 847 S.W.2d 218, 221 (Tex. 1992). "The evidence presented, viewed in the light most favorable to the prevailing party, must be such as to permit the logical inference [that the jury must reach]." Transportation Ins. Co. v. Moriel, 879 S.W.2d 10, 24 (Tex. 1994)(op. on reh'g)(alteration in original) (quoting Lyons v. Millers Casualty Ins. Co., 866 S.W.2d 597, 600 (Tex. 1993)). There must be a direct or inferential logical connection between the evidence offered and the fact to be proved. Moriel, 879 S.W.2d at 24.
If there is more than a scintilla of such evidence to support the finding, the claim is sufficient as a matter of law, and any challenges go merely to the weight to be accorded the evidence. Browning Ferris, Inc. v. Reyna, 865 S.W.2d 925, 928 (Tex. 1993). A "no evidence" point of error may only be sustained when the record discloses one of the following: 1) a complete absence of evidence of a vital fact; 2) the court is barred by rules of law or evidence from giving weight to the only evidence offered to prove a vital fact; 3) the evidence offered to prove a vital fact is no more than a mere scintilla of evidence; or 4) the evidence establishes conclusively the opposite of a vital fact. Juliette Fowler Homes, Inc. v. Welch Assoc., Inc., 793 S.W.2d 660, 666 n.9 (Tex. 1990); Robert W. Calvert, "No Evidence" and "Insufficient Evidence" Points of Error, 38 TEX. L. REV. 361 (1960).
Appellants clai
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