Potter v. Battle Creek Gas Co.

Defendant appeals from a finding of the trial court, sitting without a jury, that it was guilty of negligence which proximately caused property damage to the plaintiffs’ home.

The trial court, in its written opinion, made the following findings of fact. Defendant, in 1956, installed a cast iron gas main in front of plaintiffs’ home. At that time, defendant made no tests to determine the compactibility of the soil or the depth of the frost zone. In March 1965, the force created by earth movement caused by alternate freezing and thawing of the soil, broke the pipe thereby allowing the gas to…