Krause

Plaintiff appeals from the judgment based upon a jury verdict for defendant in an action brought by him as landlord against his tenant for damages for negligence causing a fire in the leased premises to plaintiff’s damage in the stipulated sum of $4,851.02. Plaintiff claims insufficiency of the evidence and prejudicial errors of law.

In 1949 defendant became plaintiff’s lessee of property known as 4737 Gage Avenue, in the city of Bell, and so continued until the time of the fire. Defendant at the time of lease was blind and has been so at all times since 1941. A painter by trade, he conducted upon the leased premises a retail and wholesale paint store wherein he continued through the sense of feeling to do varnishing, painting and similar work. In a storeroom in the back of the building was an electric hot plate which defendant used for heating and thinning varnish from time to time. On the day of the fire, November 22, 1958, he was doing some varnishing and used the hot plate to warm and thus thin the varnish. This continued until about five minutes before closing, at which time he had a can of varnish upon the hot plate warming it. He did not then realize how late it was. There…