Case - Clark Wilson LLP

Kruger Products Limited v. First Choice Logistics Inc. Page 14
not “inside” or is external to the engine compartment itself. It seems to me that
para. 56 of Scott’s factum aptly describes the reasoning adopted by the trial judge:
Since the evidence at trial was clear that: (i) the actual strip of paper that
caused the Fire was somehow attached to the exhaust grill; (ii) all other
possible sources for the ignition of the Fire other than the [Forklift] were
eliminated by the Appellant; (iii) the unwrapped exhaust pipes were known to
be hot enough to start paper fires; and (iv) paper cannot escape from inside
the engine compartment, it must be that the Fire started by paper touching
that part of the exposed exhaust pipe near the muffler at the back of the
[Forklift].
[27] As Scott notes, this explanation is consistent with Mr. Bodnar’s experience
with the Original Forklift described above. It is also consistent with the discovery
evidence of Mr. Woykin, another FCL employee who worked in the warehouse. He
recalled that before the exhaust system of the Original Forklift was “wrapped”, he
had seen paper “smouldering” with smoke coming from a location under the driver’s
seat of the machine, which was then being operated by a Mr. Bertie. By the time he
and Mr. Bertie located an operating fire extinguisher, Mr. Woykin could see flames.
2013 BCCA 3 (CanLII)
[28] Significant evidence in this regard was also given by a Mr. Reinders, an
employee of Toyota Canada Inc. He recalled “problems” experienced by Toyota
early on in the production of its GM262 engines – the kind used in the Original
Forklift and the Forklift. According to his testimony, these machines had a
“propensity to suck up paper into the engine compartment and through into the
radiator”, and to overheat. These problems were experienced where the units were
“working extremely hard in the environment where there is significant debris on the
floor that leads to plugging of the rads, and there is a ... very heavy use of the
attachments that are on the truck.” The witness was referred to an internal Toyota
memorandum to Toyota Canada describing overheating in pulp and paper
applications of the machine. Toyota Canada recommended the following measures
in response:
1) Increase size of engine pipe diameter to allow for easier exhaust flow.
2) Improved air flow around exhaust pipe to remove excess heat.
3) Add fibreglass insulation wrap to engine pipe.
4) Reduce hydraulic pressure, thus lowering hydraulic load on engine.