Opinion ID: 504968
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Storage of the overseas shipping crates.

Text: 9 Elmore contends that it exercised reasonable care with respect to the household goods stored in the warehouse and that loss of the goods was not due to its fault or negligence. It claims specifically that there was not substantial evidence to support the board's findings that it was negligent in the manner in which it stored overseas packing crates or that the rapid spread of the fire through the entire storage area could have been anticipated. 10 At the time of the fire approximately 450 wooden storage crates were being stored in Elmore's open storage area, a rectangular black top area about 100 feet wide and about 85 feet long located behind the warehouse that was damaged. The crates, which had all the used packing material and other trash removed from them and the tops nailed shut, were stacked closely together, with aisles less than 2 feet wide. The stacks were located at a distance of about 50 feet from the rear wall of the warehouse. 11 The storage contract required Elmore to comply with recognized local and national fire ordinances or codes. Ms. Risinger, the sole owner of Elmore's stock shares at the time of the board hearing, and Mr. Webster, the former contracting officer, testified, and the board concluded, that the contract required that the crates be stored no closer than 20 feet from the warehouse. 1 The board found that Section 12 of the fire code applicable to Elmore recommended, but did not require, that materials stored in outside storage areas be stored in unit piles as low in height and small in area as is consistent with good practice for the materials stored, and that aisles be maintained between individual piles, between piles and buildings and between piles and the boundary line of the storage site. The purpose of these aisles was to reduce danger of spread of fire from pile to pile and to permit ready access for fire fighting, emergency removal of material or for salvage purpose. Section 14 of the code recommended a clearance of at least 15 feet between buildings and open yard storage, but further recommended maintaining as much clear space as practicable. A clearance of 50 feet was recommended for warehouses of wood frame construction, or containing hazardous operations. However, Elmore's warehouse was constructed of corrugated metal. 12 The record shows that Elmore's premises were inspected regularly by the Government and by the San Antonio Fire Department and, although minor discrepancies were occasionally found, no serious safety hazards were reported. Chief Fuentes, a fire chief for the city of San Antonio, testified that he inspected Elmore's warehouses on August 22, 1983 and found no violations of any city ordinances. Mr. Whittaker, the Government inspector, noted no instances of hazards ... within 50 feet of [the] warehouse, inadequate security, or improper aisle and/or stacking clearance in an inspection conducted on January 2, 1984, some four months before the fire, and gave Elmore the highest possible rating on the Warehouse Inspection Report indicating that no deficiencies were observed. In addition, the board stated that [Elmore] was not required to provide aisles among the crates over the years and that it was simply not credible that this condition would not have been observed by the inspectors. The board concluded that the inspectors had not observed a recognizable fire hazard over a period of ten years and had not made any adverse comment on their inspection reports as to Elmore's method of storing and stacking the crates or as to the width of the aisles. 13 Undisputed testimony in the record also shows that the set-back distance used by Elmore was in conformance with the practice of others in the warehousing industry. Mr. Taber, owner of Sherwood Van Lines, testified that his staff was familiar with Elmore's facilities and that they considered Elmore to be a high quality operation which followed all safety procedures. He also stated that, with respect to his firm, he required combustible materials, such as wooden crates, to be stored at least 50 feet away from a warehouse. Mr. Andis testified that his employer, Burnham Service Corporation, was a large United States carrier and that it similarly required wooden crates to be stored at least 50 feet away from a warehouse. Mr. Andis further stated that Elmore was rated among the best of Burnham's franchisees and that, during routine inspections of Elmore's facilities, he had observed Elmore's compliance with the 50 foot distance requirement. The board specifically found that the gap between the crates placed in the open storage area and the rear wall of the warehouse was about 50 feet. This was more than twice the distance required by the contract or recommended by the applicable fire code. Cf. H & R Transfer & Storage Co., ASBCA No. 8079, 1964 BCA (CCH) p 4315 (1964) (wooden shipping crates stacked no more than four feet from its warehouse constituted negligence); Simpson Transfer and Storage Corp., ASBCA No. 24750, 82-2 BCA (CCH) p 15949 (1982) (violation of requirement that wooden crates not be stored within 20 feet of warehouse constituted negligence). 14 Notwithstanding this evidence of compliance with the fifty foot set-back required by others in the industry and with the set-back requirements of the contract and the fire code, the board concluded that the failure to maintain aisles, as recommended by the fire code, was negligent. It reasoned that the purpose of the aisles was to reduce the danger of a fire spreading and to permit access of fire fighting equipment, and that the lack of any aisles, therefore, created a firestorm hazard and a foreseeable risk of harm to goods located in the warehouse 50 feet away. 15 Even if the board's conclusion that a firestorm was the foreseeable consequence of Elmore's method of stacking the shipping crates were correct, it does not follow that Elmore was negligent in its storage and handling of goods inside the warehouse. While neither the mandatory requirements of the contract nor the recommendations of the fire code would fix the limits for a finding of negligence, in order for an act to be considered negligent, it must involve a risk which could or should have been foreseen by the actor. Restatement (Second) of Torts Sec. 289 comment b (1965). We find nothing in the record to indicate that fire damage to household goods inside the warehouse could or should have been foreseen from the location and manner of stacking the crates in the outside storage area even if a fire should rapidly spread among them. Elmore had substantially exceeded the requirements of the contract and the recommendation of the fire code in placing the wooden crates approximately 50 feet from the warehouse and, in doing so, had followed set-back requirements acceptable to others in the warehousing industry. As to the lack of aisles, Mr. Andis testified that the recommended aisle widths represented an ideal very seldom achieved in actual practice. The fire code provisions relating to aisles were not enforced and the periodic inspections had not disclosed any fire or safety hazards. Finally, Mr. Webster testified that, under general conditions, he would not expect a hazard located 50 feet away to have any effect on a building and that the amount of heat generated by the burning crates at Elmore's facility was unsuspected. 16 Despite the fact that Elmore did not provide for aisles of the recommended widths in its outside storage area, we conclude that there is not substantial evidence to support the board's finding that the loss or damage to the household goods stored inside of the warehouse was caused by Elmore's fault or negligence. 17