Court Opinion

ID: 9702573
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 23:17:19.039053+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:21:38.960377
License: Public Domain

FLAHERTY, Chief Justice,
dissenting.
I dissent. Appellants do not allege that any defects or dangerous conditions existed in the fire station property itself. Rather, they claim that negligence in the process of removing paint from the floor of the station caused injury. Thus, it was not the floor of the fire station itself that caused harm, but rather negligent handling of combustible liquids used to clean the floor that caused injury.
Exceptions to governmental immunity are to be strictly construed. Finn v. City of Philadelphia, 541 Pa. 596, 601, 664 A.2d 1342, 1344 (1995). The real property exception to immunity requires that an alleged defect be in the property itself rather than in the manner in which the property was used. Id. at 601-05, 664 A.2d at 1344-46; Kiley v. City of Philadelphia, 537 Pa. 502, 508, 645 A.2d 184, 187 (1994). This case, where no defect in the floor of the fire station is alleged, lies outside the exception to immunity. I would, therefore, affirm the order of the Commonwealth Court remanding for entry of summary judgment in favor of appellees.
CASTILLE, J., joins this dissenting opinion.