westlaw

Excerpt from Justice Buckley’s opinion (retrieved from Westlaw)

Williams v. Foster
281 Ill.App.3d 203, 666 N.E.2d 678
Ill.App. 1 Dist.,1996.
March 29, 1996 (Approx. 6 pages)

Mr. and Mrs. Foster each testified that in 1983, they purchased a new water heater, which was manufactured by State and installed by Sears. The installer never provided any warnings or safety information, and the heater was installed in a utility closet which was lined with insulation along its three walls.

On March 30, 1988, while the Fosters were asleep, a fire broke out on the ground floor of their house. When they awoke, they were trapped on the second floor by the flames and smoke. At about that time, plaintiff was driving home when he noticed smoke coming from the side of the Fosters’ house. He exited his car and approached the house to help the Fosters evacuate.

Mr. Foster broke the glass out of his bedroom window, helped Stacie climb outside, and lowered her down to plaintiff. Mr. Foster then began breaking more glass out of the window so he and plaintiff could do the same thing with Mrs. Foster, who was larger than Stacie. Plaintiff testified that he yelled to Mrs. Foster not to jump so that Mr. Foster could finish clearing out the glass and lower her down slowly, but she pushed Mr. Foster aside and jumped out head first. Plaintiff stated that he was standing directly beneath the window, and that he caught Mrs. Foster to break her fall and prevent her head from hitting the ground. The force of the collision broke plaintiff’s ankle. He testified that his foot was at a 90 degree angle with his leg.

(Plaintiff sued installer of water heater and wife. The wife was not held liable because court found that she was not negligent in jumping from a burning building.)