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Products Liability Keyed Owen, 8th Ed.
Zamora v. Mobil Corp.
Citation:
704 P.2d 584 (1985)Facts
In 1980, the Zamora family lived in a rented house in Lynden, Washington with six of their ten children. On January 26, 1980, a fire broke out in the house, killing five of the children and injuring the parents and the sixth child. The Zamoras alleged that the fire was caused by a propane gas leak that went undetected because the gas was inadequately odorized. Mobil manufactured the propane at its Ferndale refinery, adding an odorant (thiophane) manufactured by Pennwalt. Cal Gas purchased the propane from Mobil and sold it to Northwest Propane, who delivered it to the Zamoras. Significantly, Cal Gas never physically possessed, handled, modified, transported, or inspected the propane. The transaction between Cal Gas and Northwest Propane was purely a paper transaction, with Northwest taking delivery directly from Mobil’s refinery. Cal Gas had contracted with Mobil to odorize the propane in accordance with governmental regulations or industry practice.
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