Posted by: Tim Aiken
February 06, 2006

Depending on the facts of the situation, someone suffering personal injuries and burns in a fire may bring a personal injury lawsuit. Recovery for fire loss related personal injuries most frequently occurs under the legal theories of negligence and product liability.

It depends on whether a person dies as a result of the injuries or from unrelated causes. If a person injured in a fire subsequently dies as a result of the injuries, that individuals hiers may recover money through a lawsuit. Every state has a law permitting an action when someone causes the wrongful death of another. If a person with personal injuries claim dies from unrelated causes, the claim survives in most cases and may be brought by the executor or personal representative of the deceased person's estate.

A landowner or someone in control of property has a duty to maintain the property and to warn of any hazards on the property. Landowners may be resonsible for fire loss injuries if they do things like store flammable materials in an unsafe manner or let trash accumulate that can contribute to the spread of a fire.

Under the product liability law of your state you may be able to recover damage for your fire loss if you show that the product that caused the fire was defective. Showing that the manufacturer or seller of the product failed to warn of a danger or that the product had a design or manufacturing defect is key to proving a successful product liability claim.

Building owners and/or management are required to exercise reasonable care to prevent injuries in case of fire and should help people on their properties escape, which would probably include sprinklers and posted escape routes.

You may be able to seek recovery of damages not covered under worker's compensation law if the actions of a third party, like a manufacturer of a product or an outside service provider contributed to the fire, its spread, or the severity of the injuries you suffered.

A first-degree burn is a superficial burn, affecting only the skin's epidermis or outer layer. A second-degree burn destroys the epdermis and injures part of the dermis or second layer of skin. These burns are usually the most painful because nerve endings exist in the dermis and are often damaged by second-degree burns. A third degree burn destroys both layers of skin, the epidermis and dermis. The American Burn Association classifies third-degree burns over 10% of the body, or burns covering of any degree, covering over 20% of the body as critical or severe.

After contacting an attorney experienced in fire loss and injuries, you should keep a detailed journal on your loved one's behalf. Note the names and contact information of any witnesses and document the daily pain involved in treatment of fire related injuries. Be sure to note the emotional toll the injuries take on you, especially if the fire victim is a child. Your insights and observations will be invaluable for trial preperation and trial.

When you contact an experienced fire loss attorney immediately after a severe fire injures you or a loved one, you help to initiate a detailed investigation into the causes of the fire while accident evidence may still exist. Experienced fire loss attorneys work with the best fire investigation professionals who understand that a fire may have multiple causes. Getting an experienced fire loss team on-site as soon as possible aids in the early investigation of cause and potentially liable parties.