Skarpness v. Port of Seattle

Respondents, plaintiffs below, recovered judgment against appellant, port of Seattle, defendant below, for loss by fire of fishing gear placed by them in lockers ■rented from appellant. The port of Seattle appeals:

The port of Seattle maintains a number of net sheds which are rented by commercial fishermen, who moor their vessels at the port’s facilities, to store their nets and other fishing gear.

The shed in question was of frame construction, two hundred fifty feet long, fifty feet wide and thirty feet high. It consisted of one large open room without interior walls, and was divided into…