Legislature OKs liability limits for burning

HELENA — A bill passed the Legislature last week that would limit how much someone would have to pay for unintentionally burning up a neighbor’s property. 

Senate Bill 188, sponsored by Sen. Chas Vincent, R-Libby, would ensure that people responsible for fire damage to someone else’s home or property would not pay more than the market value of the property prior to the fire.

Rep. Steve Fitzpatrick, R-Great Falls, who carried the bill in the House, said it would restore the law to how it was before a district court awarded millions in damages to the community of Sunburst in a lawsuit against Texaco.

In 1955, Texaco had an underground gas pipeline leak near Sunburst that polluted the water and soil, according to the Great Falls Tribune. In 2001, a class action suit was filed by the school district and residents of the town who were unhappy with Texaco’s cleanup efforts.

In a 2004 decision, a Cascade County jury ordered Texaco to pay $41 million in damages to the plaintiffs. That far surpassed the market value of the land before the pollution, setting the precedent that a court could award someone more money than his or her property originally was worth.

Vincent’s bill is narrowly focused on fire damage. 

Fitzpatrick said the court decision led to lawyers asking for excessive damages, citing a case where actual damage was about $1 million but attorneys asked for $38 million.

Opponents of the bill said it would leave victims unable to fully recover, arguing that sometimes people needed more than the market value of their property. 

“It could prevent people from being made whole,” said Rep. Randy Pinocci, R-Great Falls.

Rep. Kelly Flynn, R-Townsend, supported the bill, saying he had been through a lot of fires as a rancher and had lost property to them, but he wouldn’t be able to cover the cost of damage to someone else’s property.

“It could be me starting that fire,” Flynn said.

The bill passed on a 52-48 vote. It cleared the Senate on a 38-11 vote in February.

Wright is a reporter for the Community News Service at the University of Montana School of Journalism. He can be reached at michael.wright@umontana.edu.