sec. 7-13. necessity.

from the (720 ILCS 5/) Criminal Code of 1961:

(720 ILCS 5/7-13) (from Ch. 38, par. 7-13)
Sec. 7-13. Necessity.
Conduct which would otherwise be an offense is justifiable by reason of necessity if the accused was without blame in occasioning or developing the situation and reasonably believed such conduct was necessary to avoid a public or private injury greater than the injury which might reasonably result from his own conduct.
(Source: 720 ILCS 5/7-13)

on december 2, i learned that when your neighbor's water heater breaks, it's reasonably okay for you to break into their place and turn off the water supply. which is what we did.

i'm still trying to figure out why i own a crobar.

the leak happened to the unit next to me on the 4th floor. the picture is from the aftermath in hallway on the first floor. there are garbage cans collecting water from a dehumidifier and two blower-fans.

during the leak, it was pretty much raining down there - three floors below the exploded water heater! it was a total mess. the unit owner responsible for the faulty heater is also responsible for all repairs in the building - a hefty sum i'm guessing.

in the meantime, here's some info about the proper care and feeding of water heaters: improve.net

there's also a $75 dollar gizmo you can install that will shut the water off if there's a leak detected. i wonder why this isn't in the city code?

on an unrelated, yet fascinating/disturbing sidenote: while perusing the illinois statutes site, i also learned that if you're gonna bury a dead body without a coffin or "similar hardback enclosure" you'd better do it at least 18 inches deep. Posted by donna at December 4, 2005 11:35 AM