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Don starts a fire that soon consumes Paula's trailer.Don did not know that the trailer was occupied and had no reason to know this,but it was.After rushing into the trailer to save her child,Paula is severely burned.Paula sues Don in negligence.Assuming that Don has breached a duty,what two arguments might he make in defense? Assume that the traditional negligence defenses apply.Will these arguments work here?
On May 03, 2024
Don can argue: (1)no proximate cause (because Paula's rescue attempt was unforeseeable);and (2)assumption of risk (because Paula acted voluntarily and was aware of the risk).(Technically,maybe contributory negligence would be possible too,since Paula did not act like a reasonably self-protective person. )But these arguments will fail,due to the "danger invites rescue" doctrine,which works to defeat both a proximate cause argument and any contributory fault defense.