andrewreid
New member
What is the name of your state? Illinois
We are not smokers. My wife and her friend were on our balcony, friend finished smoking a cigarette, and my wife suggested that her friend put out her cigarette in a potted dead tomato plant.
6.5 hours later @ 9:45pm, I hear the fire dept. prying our door open and running up the stairs. After I realize it's 8 firemen (originally thought we might be getting "purged"), I let them in our main door and they extinguished the now 4 ft. tall fire on our back porch. It had been smoldering for that extended duration of time and melted the pot + 2 pieces of plastic furniture all over our composite wood deck along with some dripping onto the deck below.
The damage includes 7 panels (roughly 30-35%) of our deck. Contractors have stated that since the composite wood is 10+ years old, replacing those panels alone will be noticeable and the work may not be approved by our HOA. My opinion is that the friend should pay for our entire deck to be replaced, but she has refused.
I do not want to use my homeowner's insurance for this ($4-6k, plus whatever we need to do with neighbor's deck below). The friend also does not want to use her insurance. We are at a standstill.
As I'd read on the forum here before, a flower pot is not an appropriate receptacle in which to discard a cigarette. Moreover, a reasonable person is held to the standard that one makes sure the cigarette is properly extinguished, regardless of the method used. Properly, can be as simple as it does not set the balcony on fire.
1. Given my wife suggested putting the cigarette in the potted plant to begin with, I am trying to determine if the friend would be held fully liable if this were taken to small claims court?
2. Is it wrong of me to expect the entire deck to be replaced? I just want my home to be the same as before this terrible incident happened. Could have been so much worse had it gone unnoticed for a few more hours.
We are not smokers. My wife and her friend were on our balcony, friend finished smoking a cigarette, and my wife suggested that her friend put out her cigarette in a potted dead tomato plant.
6.5 hours later @ 9:45pm, I hear the fire dept. prying our door open and running up the stairs. After I realize it's 8 firemen (originally thought we might be getting "purged"), I let them in our main door and they extinguished the now 4 ft. tall fire on our back porch. It had been smoldering for that extended duration of time and melted the pot + 2 pieces of plastic furniture all over our composite wood deck along with some dripping onto the deck below.
The damage includes 7 panels (roughly 30-35%) of our deck. Contractors have stated that since the composite wood is 10+ years old, replacing those panels alone will be noticeable and the work may not be approved by our HOA. My opinion is that the friend should pay for our entire deck to be replaced, but she has refused.
I do not want to use my homeowner's insurance for this ($4-6k, plus whatever we need to do with neighbor's deck below). The friend also does not want to use her insurance. We are at a standstill.
As I'd read on the forum here before, a flower pot is not an appropriate receptacle in which to discard a cigarette. Moreover, a reasonable person is held to the standard that one makes sure the cigarette is properly extinguished, regardless of the method used. Properly, can be as simple as it does not set the balcony on fire.
1. Given my wife suggested putting the cigarette in the potted plant to begin with, I am trying to determine if the friend would be held fully liable if this were taken to small claims court?
2. Is it wrong of me to expect the entire deck to be replaced? I just want my home to be the same as before this terrible incident happened. Could have been so much worse had it gone unnoticed for a few more hours.
