ITT Rayonier, Inc. v. Puget Sound Freight Lines

In 1980, an arson fire destroyed a warehouse at the Port of Tacoma. The arsonist was never identified; fire investigators later surmised that a transient had somehow gained access to the warehouse and had started the fire, using kerosene as an accelerant. The fire immediately triggered the warehouse sprinkler system, but it malfunctioned and failed to control the blaze. By the time fire fighters extinguished the fire, wood pulp and rolled paper worth nearly a million dollars had been destroyed. The wood pulp belonged to ITT Rayonier, Inc. The rolled paper had just heen sold by Crown…