Commercial Insurance Company of Newark, New Jersey v. A. B. Ferguson, and Maryland Casualty Company, Intervenor

In this personal injury suit the appellant, against which judgment was rendered on a jury verdict, contends that the plaintiff’s admitted conduct amounted to negligence as a matter of law and that such contributory negligence barred recovery. We disagree.

The plaintiff poured gasoline, which he took from a tank of defendant’s assured which was marked “diesel,” into a bucket and ignited it. An explosive fire followed, of course. After the fire had been put out with no injury to plaintiff, the plaintiff then poured some more of the gasoline into the same bucket. It ignited and exploded either…