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Haffey v. Generac Portable Products9/22/2005
Opinion Vote: AFFIRMED.
Garrison, J., and Bates, C.J., concur.
Opinion:
Appellants Kevin Haffey and Diane Lewis (variously "Plaintiff," "Plaintiffs," "Haffey," or "Lewis") filed an action in the Circuit Court of Greene County, Missouri, against Respondents Generac Portable Products, L.L.C. ("Generac") and Sears Roebuck & Company ("Sears") claiming damages to their building resulting from a fire on or about June 28, 2000, which Plaintiffs assert was caused by a defective and unreasonably dangerous 10,000 watt gas-powered generator manufactured by Generac. Sears was later dismissed from the litigation and the cause against Generac was tried before a jury. The jury returned its verdict in favor of Generac and judgment was entered in accordance with the jury's verdict. Plaintiffs now raise three points of trial court error involving the trial court's failure to give three requested withdrawal instructions to the jury, as more fully set out below. We affirm.
The record shows that in 1993 Haffey purchased 42 acres of real property which was surrounded by land owned by the United States Forest Service. He later built a metal building on the property which was approximately 30 feet by 40 feet in size. In July of 1999, Haffey and Lewis met and thereafter decided to get married. By the following year, Haffey had altered the metal building such that approximately two-thirds of the building was used as a shop and the remainder was converted to an apartment for Plaintiffs; however, electric services were not available to the building because Haffey had not yet obtained a permit from the United States Forest Service to extend electrical lines through the surrounding national forest. Therefore, in order to provide electrical power to the building, Haffey purchased a 10,000 watt Sears Craftsman gas-powered generator. Haffey placed the generator on a concrete slab located on the west side of the building and he partially enclosed the generator with a metal roof and two walls. For ventilation purposes, he constructed the two walls such that the lower two to three feet were open to allow air to circulate around the generator.
On June 28, 2000, Haffey put gasoline into the generator and left the property. Later, Lewis returned to the property. She started the generator, let it warm up and then plugged in the electrical cord which powered the lights to the apartment portion of the building. About ten to fifteen minutes later, Lewis heard a "wooshing, crinkle sound coming from behind us outside . . ." and the lights in the apartment began to flicker. Lewis went outside and discovered that the concrete pad and the west wall of the building were engulfed in flames. As a result of the fire, the building was completely destroyed and virtually all of its contents were incinerated.
Thereafter, Haffey and Lewis filed suit against Generac and Sears on theories of strict products liability, negligence, and breach of warranty.
During the trial, Plaintiffs offered two expert witnesses, Thomas Evans ("Evans"), a fire investigator, and Alan McGee ("McGee"), an electrical engineer. On direct examination Evans testified that the only fuel source which could have started the fire was the gasoline within the tank on top of the generator. He related that the point of origin of the fire was not at all consistent with an electrical fire. Further, he was able to exclude the propane system, which consisted of a propane tank and piping connected, as a fuel source to the refrigerator and water heater in the apartment.
McGee testified that he inspected the wiring system of the burned building on July 13, 2000, and opined the electrical system of the b
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