Pascoe v. Southern California Edison Co.

HANSON, J. pro tem.

The crucial question for decision in this case is whether the

third

amended complaint sufficiently stated a cause of action for negligence. The trial court held it did not and so sustained a general and special demurrer without leave to amend.

From the allegations of the complaint it appears that the Winston Brothers Company, the employer of plaintiff’s decedent, entered into a contract sometime prior to March 1,

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1948, with the State of California to enlarge and pave for a short distance Highway No. 99. On the latter date the Winston Brothers Company notified respondent Southern California Edison Company of the fact of its contract and that it would immediately start to widen and pave the highway and in the course of its operations would blast portions of it underneath the high tension wires of the defendant where the same crossed the highway some five miles north of Castaic. Parenthetically, it may be said the notification did not specify the date on which the blasting would actually begin

under

the high tension lines, much less it did not request that the respondent should take any affirmative action, such for instance, as shutting off the electricity of the transmission line or that it should insulate the wires over the highway or otherwise prepare its wires against the blasting proposed. Indeed, the notification, for aught that appears, did not indicate the manner, method or extent of the blasting charges that would be employed or that such charges would in any manner affect or endanger the defendant’s lines.

Without any further notice or request to the respondent, the Winston Brothers Company on April 8th (about six weeks after its notification) directed its employee, the plaintiff’s decedent, to blast with dynamite the portion of the highway in question.

On that date plaintiff’s decedent placed a charge of dynanite in a hole prepared for it and attached to the dynamite certain fuse wires which evidently ran to a fuse box from which he contemplated setting off the charge. Where this box was located on the surface of the ground with respect to the overhead high tension wires is not disclosed by the complaint. The plaintiff’s decedent thereupon caused an electrical current to pass presumably from the fuse box to the fuse wire which ignited the dynamite. The explosion not only caused a portion of the earth’s surface to be thrown upwards toward the high tension wires, but the fuse wire as well. This caused high voltage electricity to flow or arc from the high tension wires down along the fuse wire electrocuting plaintiff’s decedent.