Stutman Law investigated and litigated a case that involved a fire that had originated within trash that was stored outside of a strip mall. The fire ultimately spread from the trash to the roof of the strip mall and destroyed multiple tenancies inside the mall. Unfortunately, the actual ignition source for the fire was never identified by any fire investigator. Nonetheless, our attorneys pursued a case against a commercial tenant who had stored trash next to the strip mall and argued that the tenant, in fact, had “caused” the fire by providing the fire’s fuel package. In support of this argument, our attorneys established that the state fire code and related fire safety standards prohibited the storage of trash and combustible material in close proximity to commercial structures. Moreover, they established that the fire could not have occurred but for the existence of the trash, i.e., the fire’s fuel package. As a result of this novel theory, our client obtained a large, six figure settlement even though the cause of the fire was never determined.