Geraci v. A. G. Tomasello & Son, Inc.

These five actions of tort were tried together. The plaintiffs seek to recover for personal injuries alleged to have been received by them through negligence of the defendant, by reason of a fire and explosion on premises controlled by the defendant, while they were on the sidewalks of adjoining streets.

There was evidence that the premises consisted of a large open space; that about one hundred feet from the street line the defendant kept a steel barrel for the storage *553of gasoline, with a capacity of and containing about fifty gallons; that the barrel lay on its side on a wooden platform, and…