Aetna Life And Casualty Co. V. City Of Los Angeles

Thirty-eight homeowners, eight insurance companies, and the Great Western Council of the Boy Scouts of America brought the instant suit against the City of Los Angeles and its Department of Water and Power. They prayed for compensation for damages resulting from the Mandeville Canyon Fire of October 1978, which, they alleged, was caused by sparks from defendants' electrical power transmission lines along Mulholland Drive. Plaintiffs pleaded causes of action for negligent maintenance of a dangerous condition of public property and for inverse condemnation.