Opinion ID: 1172230
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Light fixtures

Text: All of the allegations in the amended complaint which involve MagneTek concern its participation in the design, manufacture, and/or sale of ballasts allegedly incorporated into fluorescent light fixtures installed in the Sammises' home. MagneTek argues that the Sammises produced no admissible evidence that the lighting fixtures caused or contributed to the fire. In support of its motion for summary judgment, MagneTek submitted to the court the affidavit of Walter Powell, a technical expert retained to investigate the role of the lighting fixtures in causing the fire. Upon testing and examination of the ballasts, he concluded that the light fixtures had played no role in the fire. He stated: [B]ased upon the testing and examination done of all of the ballasts in the light fixtures, in my opinion, there can be no basis for arriving at the conclusion that any of the ballasts contributed to igniting the fire in this case. No other component in the light fixtures caused the fire in this case. Simply put, the light fixture and the component parts thereof were victims of the fire and had nothing to do with the cause of the fire at the Sammis residence on March 19, 1992. The Sammises did not provide any admissible evidence to rebut this conclusion. In fact, the Sammises submitted the affidavit of James Willmore, an electrical engineer retained by them to investigate the toe heater that caused the fire. He stated that he had examined the fan motors and thermostat of a toe heater in the Sammises' home and concluded, It is my professional opinion that the said toe heater was the cause of the fire that destroyed the Plaintiffs' home. This affidavit does not rebut Powell's opinion that the light fixtures did not cause the fire and, indeed, appears to confirm that fact. No genuine issue of material fact thus exists with regard to the light fixtures' role in the fire at the Sammises' home; both MagneTek and the Sammises agreed that the light fixtures and their components did not cause or contribute to the fire. We thus hold that the lower court did not err in granting summary judgment for MagneTek, insofar as the claims based upon the ballasts and light fixtures.