Zimmer v. Stephenson

In the summer of 1959, plaintiff owned a field of ripe wheat immediately adjoining defendant’s property. On the afternoon of July 23, 1959, a dry, hot day in Whitman County, when the wind was allegedly blowing toward plaintiff’s land, defendant undertook to plow a fireguard upon and around his land with an industrial type D-6 Caterpillar tractor, a piece of equipment not particularly designed for farm work. During the course of defendant’s operation, plaintiff’s wheat caught fire. The fire caused a substantial crop loss.

More than 2 years, but within 3 years, after the fire, plaintiff…