Child Burned by Steam from Hose

Tenants sued landlord for negligence after their child was burned by steam from a fire hose on the back lawn of the building complex. The court ruled for tenants, and landlord appealed. Landlord argued that the child had climbed a fence separating a playground from the lawn where the fire hose was located and that another child had pushed him into the fire hose. Landlord claimed this was the cause of the child's injury, rather than any negligence on landlord's part. The appeals court also ruled against landlord. The lawn was next to the playground and it was common knowledge that children regularly climbed the fence and played on the lawn. It was also normal to expect children to push each other around while playing. So it was a natural and foreseeable result of landlord's failure to secure the lawn area that a child would play there and be injured.

Roberts v. NYCHA: NYLJ, p. 28, col. 5 (2/1/99) (App. Div. 1 Dept.; Ellerin, JP, Wallach, Tom, Andrias, JJ)