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Arnone v. Connecticut Light and Power Co.7/12/2005
The plaintiff, Todd Arnone, the administrator of the estate of the decedent, Craig M. Arnone, appeals from the judgment of the trial court rendered on the granting of the motion for summary judgment filed by the defendant Edward Pagani, Jr. On appeal, the plaintiff claims that the court improperly granted the motion for summary judgment because (1) a genuine issue of material fact existed as to whether Pagani's conduct was wilful and malicious under state law, (2) a genuine issue of material fact existed as to whether Pagani's conduct amounted to arbitrary excessiveness of governmental power in violation of the decedent's civil rights pursuant to the fourteenth amendment of the United States constitution and ยง 1983 of title 42 of the United States Code, and (3) the legal sufficiency of a complaint may not be adjudicated on a motion for summary judgment. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.
The record reveals the following undisputed facts and procedural history. The Somers Probate Court appointed the plaintiff the administrator of the estate of Craig M. Arnone, who died in the course of fighting a fire while acting as a volunteer fireman with the Somers volunteer fire department on December 8, 1996. The plaintiff brought this action against the following defendants: Connecticut Light and Power Company (power company) and Northeast Utilities Service Company, the utilities providing electrical service to the area of Somers; the Tolland County Mutual Aid Fire Services, Inc., the entity performing volunteer firefighter dispatch services; the town of Somers; and Edward Pagani, Jr., the chief, at the time, of the Somers volunteer fire department (department). The town of Somers filed a motion for summary judgment as to the counts directed against it, and on March 22, 2002, the court granted the town's motion. On September 30, 2002, the plaintiff withdrew the complaint as to the counts alleged against the power company and Northeast Utilities Service Company. On September 11, 2003, the plaintiff withdrew the complaint as to the Tolland County Mutual Aid Fire Services, Inc. The complaint was disposed of thereby as to all defendants except Pagani and the town of Somers. This appeal involves only Pagani, to whom we therefore refer in this opinion as the defendant.
The facts are largely undisputed. During the night of December 7 into the morning of December 8, 1996, a heavy snowfall blanketed Somers. Shortly after midnight on December 8, the defendant received a call that a wire was down and arcing in the vicinity of 879 Main Street in Somers. While on his way to the scene, he was notified that the house at 879 Main Street was burning. He called for a response from the department. Shortly after he arrived, there was a large electrical explosion on the premises. The wires continued to hum and crackle. The defendant contacted the dispatcher and requested that the dispatcher notify the power company to disconnect the power. He never received verification that the power company had disconnected the power. After the firefighters had arrived, there was a second explosion, after which the wires ceased humming and crackling, and all the lights in the neighborhood were dark. The defendant believed that the power was not operative at the premises at that time. He saw no reaction when snow fell on any of the wires in the area or when firefighters were brushed by a wire hanging by the front entrance.
Firefighters fought the fire, at least partly under the direction of the defendant, and brought it more or less under control. The firefighters entered and exited the house, ventilated the premises and tended to hot spots. No people had been inside the house at the time the fire began. The defen
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