Every year there are thousands of fire and explosion injuries. These are devastating accidents where people are severely burned or killed due to the result of a fire. Burn injuries can be severe from a second degree to a sixth degree burn. Whether it happens at your home, place of business or your car, fire injury cases can be very difficult for several reasons.
Determining who is at fault after a fire can be a difficult task which is why you need to hire an attorney with experience in complex fire injury cases.
What Should You Do After a Fire Injury or Death?
The last thing on your mind during a tragedy like a fire is worrying about what you need to do. Your first step should always be to seek the proper medical attention. Delaying doctors visits or not visiting a doctor can have a significant impact on your case. If your loved one is being treated properly you should consider how you can help.
Here are some of the ways you can help during this difficult time:
- Contact an attorney right away: Delaying contacting an attorney can complicate your case if you have one. See if your case is eligible.
- Preserve any evidence: With a fire injury, the evidence really matters. This includes gathering and preserving anything that might have an impact on the case. The attorney’s investigators should be able to help you with this.
- Figure out who is responsible: Sometimes there are clear-cut cases where it’s easy to determine who is at fault. For example, a landlord who was told to fix something agreed to, and then did not fix it which resulted in a fire might be easier to determine who is responsible than a case where there are only burnt ashes.
- Hire the right experts: Fire cases are complicated and you need to have the right and experienced team to help you along your case. Some fire accident cases need accident reconstruction experts, others may require an expert witness who is experienced with fires and arson cases.
Common Types of Burn & Fire Injuries
Burn and fire injuries are common in car accidents and building fires. The types of injuries vary greatly depending on where the victim was and how long they were exposed to the fire. Some of the most common injuries after a fire are:
- Smoke Inhalation
- Bacterial pneumonia
- Death
- Second degree burns
- Third degree burns
- Fourth, fifth, and sixth degree burns
- Disfigurement
There are many ways a person can get injured in a fire. We help victims with any type of burn injury.
Ensure You Hire The Right Firm
Finding the right firm for your fire accident case can be a challenge. Not all law firms are equipped to take on such complex cases, nor do they have the resources. Here are some questions you should ask to help narrow your search for the right attorney:
- Do you have experience with fire cases? If they have not yet worked on a case involving a fire injury or death they may not be the best choice to help you in this difficult time.
- Do you have the financial resources to help me? As we mentioned above, these fire cases can be very complex which means they require many experts which can get expensive. Does the firm you’re working with have the proper financial resources to be able to take this case all the way through the trial?
- Will you represent me with a contingency fee arrangement? Simply put, a contingency fee arrangement is one where you will not pay any expenses towards your case unless and until the attorneys successfully win your case. This takes the burden off of you and allows you to have a fair and proper trial. GJEL Accident Attorneys works on a contingency fee basis.
- Do you have a strong track record? Firms like GJEL who have recovered over one billion dollars for their clients are hard to come by. Make sure the firms you interview have a strong track record of success.
What A Successful Fire Lawsuit May Cover
After a fire where there is a severely injured party there are a lot of concerns about what might be covered. In general, if the accident is the result of someone else’s negligence an attorney may seek several types of compensation, including but not limited to:
- Hospital bills from your treatment or stay at the hospital
- Prior and future medical expenses from the accident
- Any continuing care that will be necessary for life
- Compensation for loss of quality of life
Experienced Fire Lawsuit Lawyers
At GJEL Accident Attorneys we have recovered over $15 million dollars for those who have been injured by fires. If you or a loved one is seeking help from a professional after your accident, contact GJEL today for a free no obligation case evaluation.