Central National Bank & Trust Co. v. Central Illinois Light Co.

This is a suit brought by landowners for damages to real and personal property occasioned by an explosion caused by a leak in an underground gas main of the defendant utility company. The defendant admitted liability. The only issue before the Court, which tried the case without a jury, was the amount of plaintiffs’ damages.

On January 16, 1957, in Peoria, the residence of John J. Heitzman, now deceased, his nearby combined apartment and store building, and a garage, with the personal property located therein, were totally destroyed by an explosion of defendant’s gas main. Subsequently,…