Grace v Orion New Zealand Ltd

The Court found that the Park breached the Act by causing the ignition of a fire ahead of its initial ignition source, an act which they considered to be a new outbreak/spread. The Park could not avoid responsibility under the Act by claiming an extraordinary event as there had been “ample opportunity” to take steps to avoid the chairlift fire, they had failed to comply with their own Fire Safety Management Plan by not removing the pine slash, and the ignition of a fire due to molten plastic dropping onto slash and coconut matting was the logical/ordinary outcome of their actions. They also noted that the damage would not have occurred if not for the new outbreak, as the Summit Road fire was largely contained.

The Court found it was fair and reasonable to impose a duty on the Park, and that this duty was owed to the plaintiffs as they were sufficiently proximate. They held that the Park had breached this duty, as a reasonable chairlift operator would have been aware that a major forest fire was likely to ignite the plastic chairs and that dropping molten plastic would cause fire, so would have removed all the chairs. Therefore, they had been negligent.
The Court also found the Park was liable in nuisance.