Edwards v. Honeywell

Honeywell (defendant) monitored the Bakers' home alarm system; when a furnace-room fire triggered the alarm, Honeywell's dispatcher, relying on outdated account information, called the wrong fire department and needed two more calls to reach the correct one - delaying dispatch by roughly three extra minutes. By the time firefighters arrived and began working, the delay had allowed the fire to compromise the garage floor; firefighter David Edwards (plaintiff) fell through the floor into the basement and died while running hose. His widow sued Honeywell for negligently failing to keep its subscriber district information current, and the district court granted Honeywell summary judgment.