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California Fire and Burn Injury Lawyer

Northern California Injury Lawyers

A California fire or burn injury can be devastating both physically and emotionally, but many people do not believe that fires or burns are something that can happen to them. Numerous fires and resulting burn injuries, including death, occur each year across the United States. In fact, statistics reveal that every 19 seconds a fire department responds to a fire somewhere in the United States. Those most vulnerable to suffer injury or death in a fire are children younger than 5 and adults over 65.

Fires have many causes including defective products and improperly maintained property. In addition to causing irreplaceable property loss, fires can also cause burn injuries that are disfiguring, painful, and even deadly. The United States has the highest rate of fire-related deaths in the developed world. If a manufacturer creates a defective product or if a property owner is negligent in the maintenance of the premises and that negligence results in a fire, those parties can be held responsible for injuries sustained.

Fire kills more Americans each year than all other forms of natural disaster combined. More than 80% of all fire deaths occur in the home. In 2004, the National Fire Protection Association reported there was a home fire every 79 seconds in the United States, and in 2003, a home fire death occurred every 170 minutes. Over $12.3 billion in property damage occurred last year as a result of fires.

The consumer products most commonly associated with fires include:

• Wood and coal burning stoves and fireplaces
• Kerosene heaters
• Gas-fired space heaters
• Portable electric heaters
• Cooking equipment
• Cigarette lighters and matches
• Upholstered furniture
• Mattresses and bedding
• Clothing
• Flammable liquids

Common causes of California fire injuries and deaths include careless smoking, disrepair and misuse of heating equipment, and accidents while cooking. Use of alternate heat sources such as space heaters or electric blankets increases the chances of starting a fire, especially if these items are not maintained or operated properly.

A burn is a devastating and extremely painful injury. A California burn injury can be caused by a variety of agents, such as heat, chemicals, electricity, or sunlight. Scalds, building fires, flammable liquids, and gases cause the most common serious burns.

Burns are classified based upon severity of damage to the skin and are divided into three categories.

• First-degree burns affect only the outer layer (called the epidermis) of the skin.
• Second-degree burns damage the epidermis and the layer beneath it (called the dermis).
• Third-degree burns involve damage or destruction of all layers of the skin and damage to underlying tissues. People who experience such burns often require skin grafting.

The swelling and blistering associated with burns is caused by the loss of fluid from damaged blood vessels. In severe cases this fluid loss can cause shock, requiring the burn victim to need an immediate blood or salt solution transfusion to restore adequate fluid levels in order to maintain blood pressure.

According to the American Burn Association (www.ameriburn.org), each year in the United States, 1.1 million burn injuries require medical attention, and that’s just the beginning.

• Approximately 50,000 of those with burn injuries require hospitalization, and roughly half of those burn patients are admitted to a specialized burn unit.
• Each year, approximately 4,500 burn-injury victims die.
• Up to 10,000 people in the United States die every year of burn-related infections; pneumonia is the most common infectious complication among hospitalized burn patients.

The most common complications suffered by a burn injury victim include:

• Scarring
• Cosmetic deformity
• Sepsis (the presence of bacteria or their toxins in the blood or tissues)
• Adult respiratory distress syndrome
• Death

Twenty years ago, burns covering half the body were routinely fatal. Today, patients with burns covering 90% of the body can survive, but they often suffer permanent injury. Contributing to the improved survival rate are advances in resuscitation, wound cleaning and follow-up care, nutritional support, and infection control. Grafting with natural or artificial materials can also aid the healing process. Victims who have suffered a burn injury often need to recover from not just the devastating physical affects but the emotional trauma as well.

 

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