San Diego Car Crash Leads to Power Outage, Fire

Our San Diego car accident attorney knows that the consequences of a vehicle crash often fall far outside the usual and expected. One can never know how a person will react to an impending accident, and therefore, the direction, speed, and destruction from every accident is different, no matter how similar the events leading up to it.

A San Diego car crash that occurred just last night showed just how strange these consequences can be. According to an article by Sign on San Diego, the crash occurred just after midnight when a vehicle smashed into a power pole on Lakeview Road. The cause of the crash has not yet been determined, in part because there was no one in or with the vehicle when police arrived on the scene. Local residents informed police that they heard a loud crash from outside, and then their power went out. One power pole came down, while two others sustained major damage. The power outage affected approximately 1,200 homes and businesses in the area.

But the power outage was not the only unexpected consequence of the crash. A few hours later, firefighters were dispatched to a mobile home in the area that had lost electricity. While waiting for power to be restored, residents of the mobile home lit candles for light. Although it is not yet clear exactly how it happened, the flame from one or more of the candles ignited other items in the home, causing a fire that grew and engulfed the mobile home’s bathroom. Fortunately, the three people who live there were able to escape without sustaining any major burn injuries, but they did all receive treatment for varying degrees of smoke inhalation.

It is not clear whether the person who hit the power pole, once identified, can be held responsible for the injuries sustained in the fire. California negligence law requires a plaintiff in a lawsuit to show both proximate and actual cause in order to prove a negligence claim against a defendant. Actual cause can be shown by demonstrating that but for the car crash, the fire would not have started. However, proximate cause is a little trickier because it requires that there be no intervening cause. Here, the plaintiff might argue that the crash led to the power outage, which led to the lighting of the candle, which led to the fire. However, the defendant would argue that the plaintiff’s negligence in allowing the candle to start a fire was an intervening cause that should relieve the defendant from liability.

The complexities of law and fact in a case like this one demonstrates just how important it is to have a qualified negligence attorney on your side when pursuing a claim against a defendant. If you have been injured in a car crash or because of someone else’s negligent actions, give our office a call today. Our San Diego car accident lawyer at the Walton Law Firm has experience with a wide variety of negligence claims and can help you determine your rights and get the compensation to which you are entitled.

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