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

Heading: The fence and the children.

Text: 18 The applicable fire code also recommended, but did not require, that the entire property be surrounded by a fence or other suitable means to prevent access of any unauthorized persons. Elmore's property was fenced, but evidence established that at the time of the fire there was a hole in the fence a short distance away from where the fire had been started and that a well worn path led from a neighboring public housing complex to the hole. The board found that Elmore had a problem with children repeatedly gaining access to the outside storage area and using the crates as a clubhouse. It also found that efforts were made to repair the fence, although not by professionals. The evidence showed that when the hole in the fence was repaired by Elmore's employees, the children from the housing complex would cut it open again. 19 Elmore tried in several ways to prevent unauthorized access to its property. In addition to fencing the property and attempting to keep the fence repaired, the testimony indicates that Elmore employed security devices such as silent alarms and motion detectors on its warehouses. It considered the possibility of acquiring guard dogs to patrol the property or of electrifying its fence, but was advised by the police and insurance agents against pursuing either of these options because of potential tort liability. It also employed a security guard service for a short time, but found the guard service to be unreliable. It notified the police when it became aware that children were playing in an adjoining vacant lot and, at the suggestion of the police, directed its employees to clean off that lot. Moreover, there was no indication that Elmore's warehouses were located in a high crime area or that arson had been a problem in the past. See Simpson Transfer & Storage, 82-2 BCA (CCH) at 79,070. 20 The board concluded that Elmore's owners knew or should have known about the condition of the fence and the use being made of their property by the children. Although there was no finding by the board, and apparently no evidence, that the trespassing children previously had been playing with matches or starting fires on Elmore's premises or elsewhere, the board opined that [i]t is common knowledge that children will play with matches and will often start fires, and that it could be anticipated that the children might start a fire. Even assuming it was proper for the board to notice judicially such facts, and assuming that the crates were not adequately protected despite Elmore's repeated attempts to prevent trespassers from entering its property, it is not the loss of the crates which is at issue. As we stated earlier, there is nothing in the record to indicate that damage to goods inside the warehouse could have been foreseen even if a fire spread among the crates. To impose a liability for negligence on Elmore under the circumstances is unwarranted.