San Diego Burn Injury Lawyers
Burn injuries affect thousands of people every year. While many people only associate burn injuries with fire, there are other serious ways that an individual can be affected by these types of injuries, including smoke inhalation, explosion injuries, and scalding burns. Regardless of the cause, negligent actions, whether on the part of an individual or a company, are often the cause of burn injuries, and those responsible for said negligent action need to be held accountable for them.
According to estimates from The American Burn Association, half a million people in the United States receive medical treatment for burn injuries each year, with 40,000 of those people having to be hospitalized. Burn injuries can take on a variety of forms. While flames can damage a person’s skin, sometimes causing irreparable damage that can result in the need for skin grafts, super heated smoke can affect the lungs, singeing an individual’s airway and ultimately affecting a person’s respiratory system. Water heaters can be faulty, heating water to temperatures greater than those recommended in order to prevent scalding injuries. Furthermore, while explosions may result in fire, thus causing burn injuries as a result, the fallout of an explosion can be more extensive, with heated shrapnel and other debris posing a serious risk of harm that can include burn injuries.
Burn injuries can be exasperated by the fact that a building’s layout is not optimum in allowing for the safe evacuation of all inhabitants. Consequently, the owner of such a building can be held responsible based on premises liability, and could be legally required to compensate individuals that are injured as a result. If a product poses an unwarranted risk of causing a fire, or, as in the case of a faulty water heater, improper function of the product can result in a greater risk to the consumer, then the manufacturer of that product can be held responsible based on a product liability that results in personal injury. On a more individual basis, dangerous behavior, such as arson, can result in fire injuries, and any individuals that are deemed responsible for such behavior can be held liable for all damages associated with the dangerous behavior.
If you have suffered a burn injury, don’t hesitate to contact San Diego personal injury lawyer Steven Elia today for a free evaluation of your case. Mr. Elia will examine every detail surrounding your accident, and will civily prosecute the negligent parties to hold them accountable for their actions and seek compensation on your behalf. If you have been injured, please call us today.