A property owner has a common law duty to use reasonable means to prevent the spread of fire from his/her property to adjacent structures.  Fire has to be prevented at least from where the fire starts and also the subsequent spreading of the fire to the adjacent property.  Foreseeability and the magnitude of the burden of guarding against fire was not substantial[i]

Similarly, smoke and water damage to adjacent property are foreseeable consequences of fire, so that an adjoining landowner may recover for such damage if he or she establishes the defendant’s breach of duty and proximate cause[ii].

In Bartelli v. O’Brien, 307 Ill. App. 3d 655 (Ill. App. Ct. 2d Dist. 1999), a property owner sued the defendant adjacent landowner, alleging that the defendant landowner was negligent and failed to prevent fire, which originated in the defendant landowner’s hotel that caused damage to the plaintiff owner’s property.  The court held that the defendant landowner had a common law duty to use reasonable means to prevent the spread of fire from the hotel to adjacent structures.  The court also observed that factors such as foreseeability and proper maintenance of fire fighting equipment in hotel would have prevented the spreading of fire to the adjacent property.

In Cuevas v. Quandt’s Foodservice Distributors, Inc, 6 A.D.3d 973 (N.Y. App. Div. 3d Dep’t 2004), a fire broke out in a warehouse owned by defendant and leased to another person.  The fire spread through an adjacent building also owned by defendant and resulted in smoke and water damage to plaintiff’s neighboring building.  Plaintiff alleged that the fire started and spread because of defendants’ negligence.  The court found that the fire investigation report indicated that there was no sprinkler system where the fire started.  Therefore, it was clear that the defendant failed to install or maintain adequate fire safety devices that resulted in the spreading of fire.

[i] Bartelli v. O’Brien 307 Ill. App. 3d 655 (Ill. App. Ct. 2d Dist. 1999)

[ii] Cuevas v. Quandt’s Foodservice Distributors, Inc6 A.D.3d 973 (N.Y. App. Div. 3d Dep’t 2004)