Benedict v. National Bank of Commerce

Tom Glaze, Justice.

Appellant Nobia Benedict brought this lawsuit against National Bank of Commerce after her house and lot, including a pin oak tree, sustained damages as a result of fire. Benedict’s house and lot adjoined the Bank’s property, which contained a dilapidated structure. The Bank gave written permission to the El Dorado Fire Department to conduct a “controlled burn” of the structure on its property, and the department agreed to burn the structure as a training exercise.1 Although the department established a “water curtain” between Benedict’s and the Bank’s adjoining properties,…