35 N.Y. 210, 91 Am.Dec. 49
On the 15th day of July, 1854, in the city of Syracuse, the defendant, the New York Central Railroad Company, by the careless management or through the insufficient condition of one of its engines, set fire to its woodshed and a large quantity of wood therein.1
The plaintiff's house, situated at a distance of one hundred and thirty feet from the shed, soon took fire from the heat and sparks.2 Diligent efforts were made to save it, but the house was entirely consumed. A number of other houses were also burned by the spreading of the fire.3
The plaintiff brings this action to recover from the railroad company the value of his building thus destroyed.4 The judge at the Circuit nonsuited the plaintiff, and the General Term of the fifth district affirmed the judgment.5
Whether the New York Central Railroad Company is liable to the owner of a house destroyed when fire originating on the company's property through negligence spread one hundred thirty feet to consume the house?6
A negligent party is liable only for the proximate results of his acts that are the natural and necessary consequences, but not for remote damages that depend on accidental circumstances such as the degree of heat, the state of the atmosphere, the condition of adjoining structures, and the direction of the wind.7
No. The immediate result of the railroad company's negligence was the destruction of its own woodshed and wood.8 The destruction of the plaintiff's house located one hundred thirty feet away was not a natural and expected result but instead depended upon a concurrence of accidental circumstances including the degree of heat, the state of the atmosphere, the condition of adjoining structures, and the direction of the wind, making it remote rather than proximate.9
The New York Central Railroad Company is not liable to the plaintiff for the destruction of his house.10