Guthrie v. City of St. Charles

The respondent, a boy 15 years old suing by next friend, recovered a judgment for $8,000 damages against the appellant City of St. Charles, for injuries sustained in an explosion of sewer gas emanating from a sanitary sewer into the basement of the home of Fred Hirsch, his neighbor. There had been a heavy rain that evening and surface water found its way into the sewer and thence flooded basements in the vicinity. The respondent and other children were on an expedition to rescue dogs, cats and fowls from the inundated area. They ventured to the top steps leading into the Hirsch basement with…