Tenant Can't Sue for Fire Damage from Neighbor's Apartment

Tenant sued landlord to recover damages to her personal property after a fire in an upstairs apartment. Tenant claimed that the other apartment had no smoke detector. Tenant argued that if there had been a smoke detector, the fire department would have been notified sooner, resulting in less smoke and water damage. Landlord asked the court to dismiss the case. The court ruled for landlord. Smoke detectors aren't connected to the fire department, so no one could say that the fire department would have arrived sooner if there had been a smoke detector in the apartment when the fire started. It was unclear whether there had been a smoke detector in the upstairs apartment. But the city law requiring smoke detectors was designed to protect occupants of the apartment where the detector was located. It didn't cover damage to property or to a neighbor's property.

Jamison v. 157-61 W. 105 St. Housing Dev. Fund Corp.: NYLJ, 3/28/07, p. 20, col. 1 (Civ. Ct. NY; Bluth, J)