## Facts

- Rolf Gerchberg, age five, was injured on neighboring property owned/occupied by the Loney family.
- The Loneys used a metal barrel as an incinerator on their premises.
- The parents directed their 10-year-old son, Rodney Loney, to burn papers in the barrel.
- Rodney started a fire in the barrel and placed additional papers near the incinerator area.
- Rolf was present when Rodney lit the fire; both boys then left while the fire remained burning and unattended.
- Rolf later returned alone to the area, disturbed or reignited papers near the barrel, and his clothing caught fire.
- Rolf suffered serious burn injuries.

## Issues

1. Whether Kansas should abandon the traditional entrant classifications (trespasser, licensee, invitee) and instead impose a single duty of reasonable care to all entrants on land.
2. Whether the plaintiff’s evidence was sufficient to submit the case to a jury under the doctrine of attractive nuisance, making a directed verdict improper.

## Decision

- The Kansas Supreme Court declined to replace trespasser/licensee/invitee classifications with a unitary “reasonable care under all circumstances” duty.
- The court agreed that the plaintiff’s evidence created a submissible attractive nuisance claim.
- The court approved the Court of Appeals’ reversal of the directed verdict for defendants and remanded for trial on attractive nuisance.

## Legal Principles

- Kansas premises-liability duties continue to depend on the entrant’s common-law status (trespasser, licensee, invitee), rather than a single general duty of reasonable care.
- A directed verdict is improper where the plaintiff’s evidence permits a reasonable jury to find the elements of attractive nuisance satisfied.
- An artificial condition on land may support attractive nuisance liability when the condition presents an unreasonable risk of serious harm to young children and the risk is reasonably foreseeable to the possessor, with reasonable measures available to reduce the danger.

## Conclusion

Kansas refused to abolish status-based premises-liability classifications but held that a five-year-old’s burn injuries from an unattended incinerator fire presented a triable attractive nuisance claim, requiring reversal of the defendants’ directed verdict and remand for trial.


Gerchberg v. Loney, 576 P.2d 593 (Kan. 1978)