landowner was liable for refuse fire started on his property even though neither he nor his employees started fire, and cause was unknown
How later courts described this case
- landowner was liable for refuse fire started on his property even though neither he nor his employees started fire, and cause was unknown
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
Mr. JUSTICE EBERSPACHER, dissenting:
While I concur in the disposition of the charge based on failure to secure the necessary operating permit, I would reverse the order of the Illinois Pollution Control Board on the charge of open burning as being against the manifest weight of the evidence. The one fire on August 21, 1974, which the respondent extinguished after being notified, was all that was shown as the basis for sustaining the charge of open burning. It is undisputed that petitioner did not set the fire, and there is no evidence that the fire was the result of a lack of reasonable care on the part of petitioner. I consider the holdings of McIntyre v. Pollution Control Board, 8 Ill. App. 3d 1026 , 291 N.E.2d 253 , and Alton & Southern Ry. Co. v. Pollution Control Board, 12 Ill. App. 3d 319 , 297 N.E.2d 762 , as applicable to that charge. The cases upon which the majority sustains the Board on that charge, Bath, Cobin and Meadowlark Farms, are, in my opinion, clearly distinguishable.