Hyman

Plaintiff David Mitchel Hyman, a minor, by his mother Rosalea Hyman as guardian ad litem, brought this action for personal injuries against defendants Ernest Mahan, Stanley Gordon and Arthur Peterson.

Since this appeal involves the correctness of an order granting a non-suit on certain causes of action, the evidence most favorable to plaintiff will be stated. On April 2, 1969, plaintiff, a boy of approximately nine years of age, was in the garage of his neighbor, Ernest Mahan, in the company of Mahan’s young son Ronald. The boys had been painting model airplanes and, at Ronald’s suggestion, were looking for a solvent or cleaner for the paint on their hands. Mahan, the owner of the residence and garage, had been doing some inside painting in his home, and had left some paint brushes soaking in gasoline in an open coffee can on the garage floor. Plaintiff inadvertently knocked over the can, and gasoline flowed in the direction of a gas-fired water heater located four or five feet away in a corner of the garage. Seconds later the gasoline ignited, and in the resultant fire, the plaintiff sustained severe burns to his left leg from the knee to the ankle.

Plaintiff’s amended…