In the afternoon of Dec. 11, 2013, decedent Christian Gonzalez Terrones, 30, a farm maintenance worker employed by Big Valley Labor, was working at a farm operated by Smokey Jack LP and located at 9570 North Highway 59, in Merced. The property was leased by Smokey Jack from Edendale LLC. Big Valley Labor was retained by Smokey Jack’s property manager, D.J. Bavaro Inc., to provide labor for the farm. Terrones was instructed by the D.J. Bavaro’s foreman to repair small holes in a fuel tank. However, when Terrones approached the tank with a lit, oxy-acetylene welding torch, the tank exploded. Terrones was killed instantly. Claudia Payan Alapizco, acting on behalf of the decedent’s two minor children, Jacqueline Terrones Payan and Jair Terrones Payan, sued Smokey Jack LP; Edendale LLC; a principal of Smokey Jack and Edendale, Robert Thomason; and D.J. Bavaro Inc. Payan Alapizco alleged that the defendants failed to properly maintain the fuel tank, causing the decedent’s wrongful death. Barley LLC, an entity that owned an adjacent parcel of land, was initially named as a defendant because they had provided the welding equipment used at the time of the incident. However, Barley was dismissed on a motion for summary judgment and it was granted summary adjudication on the negligence causes of action. Plaintiffs’ counsel then successfully moved for a dismissal for a waiver of costs. Plaintiffs’ counsel contended that the decedent had been shown how to use a torch to repair another fuel tank earlier that day. However, counsel contended that the subject fuel tank had not been properly cleaned and that the torch carried by the decedent caused the remaining fuel within the tank to ignite and explode. Thus, plaintiffs’ counsel maintained that the tank should have been properly cleaned or the decedent should have been instructed to use an alternate method to repair the tank, and that the defendants’ failure to do so made them liable for the explosion and the decedent’s death. Counsel for Thomason, Smokey Jack and Edendale asserted that Thomason, Smokey Jack and Edendale were not responsible for the accident and that any negligence was on the part of D.J. Bavaro and the decedent. Counsel also asserted that the high level of methamphetamine found in the decedent’s system following a post-mortem toxicology screening was a contributing factor in the decedent’s decision to approach the fuel tank with a lit torch. Defense counsel noted that the site foreman employed by D.J. Bavaro testified during depositions that he specifically told the decedent not to use a welding torch on the tank and shouted out to him to stop using the torch just before the explosion. In response, plaintiffs’ counsel noted that two employees testified during depositions that the decedent did not appear to be impaired at the time of the incident. Defense counsel moved summary judgment on liability, but it was denied after Judge Kristi Culver Kapetan determined that D.J. Bavaro and the decedent were acting as agents of Smokey Jack at the time of the incident and thus, their actions were attributable to Smokey Jack. Kapetan also found that the question of whether the defendants retained control over the work performed or if the defendants had affirmatively contributed to the decedent’s death by instructing him to use a welder to repair fuel tanks were both triable issues. She further found that the question of whether Thomason, as a principal, should have known about the dangerous condition and disclosed it to the decedent was a triable issue. Thomason was ultimately dismissed from the suit., Christian Gonzalez Terrones sustained multiple trauma, including severe burns, when the fuel tank exploded. He died instantly. He was 30 years old, and he was survived by a 7-year-old daughter, Jacqueline Terrones Payan, and an 11-year-old son, Jair Terrones Payan. The decedent’s minor children, through their mother, Claudia Payan Alapizco, sought recovery of wrongful death damages, including recovery for their loss of household services. Alapizco initially sought recovery for loss of financial support, but this claim was ultimately waived as she and the decedent were not married.