## Facts

- James F. Clinkscales, Jr., an active-duty marine, visited The Gallery Lounge, a Davenport bar owned and operated by Nelson Securities, Inc. and its co-owners.
- The bar regularly grilled hamburgers on a patio immediately outside the bar using a large, custom grill fueled by two propane tanks placed underneath.
- During grilling, a flare-up occurred; an explosion-like “pop” and “hiss” followed, and a fire erupted beneath the grill, engulfing the propane tanks and creating an apparent gas-leak hazard.
- The parties disputed the emergency response: defendants’ witnesses asserted patrons were told to leave and the fire department was called; Clinkscales claimed he did not hear a warning to patrons.
- A fire extinguisher was brought to the scene and used to suppress visible flames; the grill knobs were turned off, but gas odor indicated continued leakage.
- An employee stated he wanted to shut off the propane tanks but could not reach the valves because of heat and danger.
- Trained in fire suppression, Clinkscales approached, removed his shirt to protect his hands, and attempted to close the propane valves.
- As he reached toward the tanks, the grease fire reignited and Clinkscales suffered serious burns.
- Clinkscales sued for negligence and, alternatively, under *res ipsa loquitur* based on the fire and gas leak originating from equipment controlled by defendants.

## Issues

1. Whether a reasonable jury could find defendants were negligent in operating/maintaining the grill and responding to the emergency, and that such negligence proximately caused Clinkscales’s rescue attempt and injuries.
2. Whether Clinkscales’s intervention was, as a matter of law, a superseding cause (or otherwise barred recovery) because he knowingly entered a dangerous situation and allegedly ignored directions to leave.
3. Whether *res ipsa loquitur* was foreclosed on summary judgment given the nature of the incident and defendants’ control of the grill and propane system.

## Decision

- The Iowa Supreme Court reversed the district court’s grant of summary judgment for defendants.
- The court vacated the Iowa Court of Appeals decision affirming summary judgment.
- The court remanded for trial, holding a jury could reasonably find defendants’ negligence proximately caused the peril and Clinkscales’s resulting rescue attempt and injuries.

## Legal Principles

- Under the rescue doctrine (“danger invites rescue”), when a defendant’s negligence creates peril, injuries to a rescuer may fall within the scope of foreseeable harm; the rescuer’s intervention ordinarily does not break causation unless the rescue conduct is wantonly reckless.
- Proximate cause and the effect of intervening conduct are generally fact questions; summary judgment is improper when the record would allow reasonable jurors to find defendants’ negligence caused the emergency and the rescue response.
- A land possessor owes business invitees ordinary care to keep premises reasonably safe; alleged failures in maintenance, inspection, fire-safety equipment, training, and emergency handling may constitute breach for the jury to assess.
- A plaintiff’s awareness of danger or decision to attempt a rescue does not automatically negate duty or causation in rescue cases; such considerations are typically addressed by the fact-finder, including under comparative-fault principles.
- *Res ipsa loquitur* may be available where the event is of a type not ordinarily occurring without negligence and instrumentalities were within defendants’ control; whether its elements are satisfied may require trial.

## Conclusion

The Iowa Supreme Court held that the evidence permitted a finding that defendants’ conduct created a dangerous propane-fire emergency and that Clinkscales’s rescue attempt was a foreseeable response, making summary judgment inappropriate and requiring trial on negligence and related theories.


Clinkscales v. Nelson Sec., Inc., 697 N.W.2d 836 (Iowa 2005)