Products liability doctrine holds a manufacturer, or other party involved in selling a product, strictly liable when an article, placed into the market with knowledge that it is to be used without inspection for defects, proves to have a defect that causes a personal injury. Consumers who are injured because of a fault with a product that the consumers had no ability to protect themselves against may recover against the manufacturer under a theory of products liability.
Thermal is a small unincorporated community located approximately 25 miles southeast of Palm Springs and about 9.5 miles north of the Salton Sea. Although one can find sunny skies most days, residents occasionally endure strong winds and sizzling summer temperatures well above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The community's elevation is about one hundred twenty feet below mean sea level. It is inside area code 760 and is in ZIP Code 92274. It lies along the Yuma Subdivision of the Union Pacific Railroad. Area crops include citrus orchards, winter vegetables and date palms.