Cugini v. McPhail

Defendants appeal from a judgment for plaintiffs in an action for damages to timber, allegedly the result of a fire caused by defendants’ negligence. The case was tried to the court without a jury.

In many material respects the evidence on which the trial court based its fact findings is conflicting. Because of the view we take of this case on appeal, we shall set out only a bare framework of the relevant facts.

In 1948, the Bonneville power administration acquired an easement over plaintiffs’ land for construction of a power line. Plaintiffs’ land lay in the vicinity of Baring, Washington,…