At 8pm on a Friday night, Lincoln, a Fauna resident, lights an old paraffin lamp as he has no electricity
due to scheduled load-shedding of electricity. Lincoln leaves the old paraffin lamp burning in his
bedroom with the bedroom window open and proceeds to spend the next half hour in the
neighbouring bedroom reading his son a bedtime story. A strong draft of wind blows the lamp over. As
a result of this a fire starts and spreads rapidly, engulfing his house and spreading to his neighbour’s
house. Penny [his neighbour] was holding a party when the flames engulfed her house. Penny’s house
is also destroyed in the fire. Richard [her husband] who was in the toilet at the time the fire broke out,
runs out of the house, undressed. Neo then takes a video of Richard running naked and sends it to his
friends. The following day Richard finds out almost everyone in Fauna has seen the video. Richard feels
utterly humiliated says that: "I honestly felt like just sitting in my house and not coming out. I want to
crawl into a hole." Amanda, a university lecturer who was also one of Penny’s guests succumbs to burn wounds
HOW IS IT LINCOLN FAULT?
It is Lincoln's fault because he left an old paraffin lamp burning unsupervised in his bedroom with the window open. This is a dangerous and negligent act, especially considering the scheduled load-shedding of electricity in the area. The lamp being blown over by a strong draft of wind caused a fire to start and rapidly spread, leading to the destruction of Lincoln's and Penny's houses, as well as causing burn injuries to Amanda and humiliation to Richard. Lincoln's actions directly contributed to the chain of events that resulted in these negative outcomes.
It appears that Lincoln is partially responsible for the chain of events that led to the destruction of both his own and Penny's house. The key factors in this scenario are as follows:
1. Lighting the old paraffin lamp: Lincoln chose to light the lamp in his bedroom due to the scheduled load-shedding of electricity. This decision created a potential fire hazard, as paraffin lamps can be dangerous if left unattended or not properly secured.
2. Leaving the lamp burning with an open window: By leaving the lamp burning while he went to the neighboring bedroom, Lincoln did not take necessary precautions to prevent accidents. The strong draft of wind blowing the lamp over was unpredictable but could have been avoided by properly securing the lamp or extinguishing the flame before leaving the room.
3. Fire spreading to both houses: Once the fire started due to the fallen lamp, it rapidly spread and engulfed both Lincoln's and Penny's house. While Lincoln might not have directly caused the fire to spread to Penny's house, the initial fire in his own house created the dangerous situation that led to the destruction of both properties.
It is important to note that establishing fault can involve a range of factors, and the specific legal or insurance liability might depend on local laws and regulations. However, based on the given information, Lincoln's actions contributed to the fire and subsequent destruction, making him partially responsible for the incident.