Court Opinion

ID: 9530729
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 04:03:02.760615+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:28:14.159503
License: Public Domain

DISSENTING OPINION OF
PADGETT, J.
I respectfully dissent.
This case comes before us on an appeal from an order granting summary judgment in favor of the owner of a building, and the contractor who was reconstructing it, and against a fireman injured by a collapsing ceiling while he was attempting to put out a fire in the building.
There is evidence in the record to indicate that the building was untenanted and under reconstruction, that it was in an area where vagrants were known to sleep in such structures, and to build fires in them, that there was a pile of debris left by the construction workers which apparently caught fire, and that the building was unguarded.
Until today, Hawaii had not adopted the so-called “Fireman’s Rule” which bars a fireman injured in the course of his duties from bringing suit against the owner of a burning building for the owner’s negligence. As the majority opinion clearly indicates, the *201courts which have adopted the “Fireman’s Rule” have had great difficulty in explaining the legal rationale upon which it rests, and have adopted various explanations to justify the result reached. Moreover, those courts have also riddled the rule with exceptions. When a rule of law is so difficult of explanation that courts adopting it have tried to buttress it with varying, shaky, legal explanations, and have shot it full of exceptions, it is usually because the rule is unjust. That is the case here.
Long ago, when the only premises protected against fire were those owned by dues-paying subscribers, and fire companies were made up of volunteers, there may have been reason for the rule on contract principles. But today, everyone is protected by fire fighters, fire departments are government agencies, and the firemen government employees. A fireman does not assume the risk of being injured in a fire by going on the burning premises. That is his duty, for which he was hired, and once having accepted that employment, he has no choice but to carry out his duties.
Section 132-8 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) provides:
(a) Every owner or other person having charge of or control over any building, structure, or other premises, in this chapter designated “owner,” shall construct, keep, and make the building, structure, or other premises, in this chapter designated “building,” reasonably safe from loss of life or injury to persons or property by fire, in this chapter designated “fire loss,” in view of the type of construction, the use of the building, and all other pertinent circumstances.
(b) No owner shall permit the occupancy or use of any building which is not reasonably safe from fire loss and no owner shall fail to furnish, provide, and use reasonably adequate protection and safeguards against fire, or fail to adopt and use processes and methods reasonably *202adequate to render the building safe from fire loss; and no owner or other person shall fail or neglect to do every other thing reasonably necessary to prevent a fire loss in any building under the owner’s or person’s charge or control.
The majority says that that statute creates no duty toward the persons who may be injured as a result of its violation, but it is interesting to note that the statute derives from subsections 13 and 14 of § 49 of Act 115 of the Session Laws of 1917 and that Act 115 was entitled:
To provide an insurance law for the Territory of Hawaii; to regulate the organization and government of insurance companies and insurance business; to provide penalties for the violation of the provisions of this Act; to provide for a fire marshal and to define his duties; and to repeal all existing laws relating to insurance.
That Act, in defining the kinds of insurance available, made a distinction between insurance for property damages caused by fire and insurance for personal accident and disability.
Let us make no mistake about what this case really involves. It involves the liability insurance policies of those in control of the premises where the fire occurred. The majority, by this decision, judicially legislates in favor of negligent landowners, negligent contractors, and their personal liability insurance carriers, and against a non-negligent fireman doing his duty under the law.
Why, as a matter of logic, should a fireman not be able to recover in a situation such as this if the jury finds that the landowner and/or the contractor knew that there was a risk of vagrants setting fire to the premises during reconstruction and while flammable materials were piled up on the ground floor, and failed to post guards to prevent the fires being set?
*203The majority says that the fireman will be compensated by workers’ compensation payments. But in cases of serious injuries, workers’ compensation payments never fully recompense the injured victim. Moreover, the City, as the employer under the workers’ compensation law, having paid out the workers’ compensation benefits, has a right to reimbursement therefor, if the injured fireman can recover from any negligent party causing his injuries.
I would leave the law of Hawaii where it has been until now, that is, that persons in charge of premises are liable for injuries on their premises brought about by their negligence, and leave the parties in this case to try the factual issue of whether the fire in question was brought about by the negligence of the contractor and/or the landowner. I would not judicially legislate an exception to the ordinary rule with respect to premises liability, and disqualify firemen, doing the duty that their job requires of them, from recovery for their personal injuries caused by the negligence of those controlling the premises, nor would I exempt liability insurance carriers of those negligent premises controllers from paying firemen for injuries thus caused.