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A fire at your home that results in personal injuries gives you the right to hold the negligent parties accountable and file a personal injury claim or a lawsuit.
If another person or party is responsible for injuries or a wrongful death caused by a house or building fire, you may have the right to file a claim for compensation, and our personal injury attorney Sean M. Cleary can offer you legal guidance.
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House Fire Results in Tragic Death
After a young disabled boy had burned to death in their trailer home in Volusia County, Florida, his family brought suit against FP&L and the landlord for negligent wiring in the trailer. The case settled in their favor.
According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) statistics, over a five-year period, cooking equipment was the biggest cause of home fires and related injuries and casualties, and smoking was the leading cause of home fire fatalities. Many other home fire injuries result from faulty electrical distribution and heating equipment, smoking materials (i.e., tobacco products), and intentional fire setting. Most fire-related fatalities were not caused by burn injuries, but by inhaling smoke or toxic gases.
Also, almost three of five home fire fatalities were caused by fires in which either smoke alarms were missing (35%) or an alarm was present and should have operated but did not do so (17%).
NFPA informs that a home fire occurs every 87 seconds, and statistics released by the Florida State Fire Marshal's Office reveal that, in the last year of available data, Florida saw 200 civilian fatalities and 1,312 injuries. Nineteen of the fire-related deaths took place in Miami-Dade County, where 1,764 structure fires were registered. Getting injured in a home fire is a traumatic experience, and especially scary when you live in a multi-family residential building. Fires generally start when tenants are doing common chores and, in some cases, their cause may be unseen.
There are many different types of claims you could bring after a house fire has upended your life, as some of the most common house fire injuries include:
Because there are so many different ways a fire can begin, there are often multiple responsible parties that may be held liable for your injuries.
If you tragically lost a family member in a house fire, first and foremost, we extend our deepest sympathies to you and your family. Second, it's important to know that you can file a wrongful death claim for damages against the parties responsible for the fire and the death of your loved one.
The question of who is legally responsible for your house fire injury can be a complex one. More often than not, the causes of house fire injuries are accidental, but that doesn’t mean they weren't preventable or that someone shouldn’t be held liable for your suffering.
Possible defendants in a fire injury claim can include:
If you were injured in a house fire and you can prove that a negligent act or product liability issues led to your injuries, you can seek compensatory damages for the harm you have suffered.
In negligence cases, to recover compensatory damages, you must prove that the defendant had a legal duty, breached that duty, and that breach was the proximate cause of your injuries. Negligence occurs when someone behaves in a careless manner or without regard to the consequences. This negligence can come as a failure to act or an action that leads to harm to another person.
In product liability cases, you must show that the defendant manufactured, distributed, sold, or installed the product that caused you harm. If you are unsure about who is responsible for your house fire injuries, contact The Law Offices of Sean M. Cleary today, and we will help with the investigation of your case and recover any personal injury losses you and your family suffered as a result of another's negligence.
Recent statistics from the NFPA show that in the U.S., over the course of just one year, 2,720 people lost their lives in home fires. That means that nationwide, a civilian dies in a home fire every 3 hours and 13 minutes. While the deaths represent enormous and potentially avoidable tragedies, the number of 11,200 nonfatal injuries also merits attention. Nationwide, there was a civilian fire injury in home fires every 41 minutes. In many cases, these were permanent, life-changing injuries.
A fire can spread through your house very quickly, causing serious injuries such as burns, smoke inhalation injuries, and chemical exposure injuries. If you've been injured in a Miami house fire, you need to act immediately to preserve your legal rights to compensation for your injury.
At our Florida personal injury law firm, we're all too familiar with the devastating effects of fire, superheated gases, and smoke on the human body. We summarize these effects below:
There are four degrees, or categories of burn injuries, signifying the depth to which the tissue is damaged:
The combination of smoke inhalation and suffocation during a house fire can be devastating for someone's health. Injuries caused by smoke inhalation are the primary cause of house fire deaths. These injuries have three different causes:
After a fire, the local fire department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms will usually perform comprehensive investigations and prepare a detailed report. These reports contain important information that will influence whether or not the property owner or other negligent parties will be required to pay for your compensatory damages. We have the resources to investigate your house fire accident and build a compelling case for the other party’s liability, fighting to ensure that you are fully compensated for your injuries.
Compensatory damages are awarded to help you recover from fire-related injuries. Awards for compensatory damages typically include some or all of the following:
To represent people injured in house fires, or to help surviving family members, we collaborate with hands-on experts and professionals, such as:
We closely work with these experts in determining the overall damages of a house fire injury. These include present and future analysis or prognosis from the following perspectives:
After we have a complete overview of how the fire affected your life, we proceed with negotiations aimed at recovering a just monetary compensation amount for your injury case. If you, or someone you love, were injured in a house fire, contact The Law Offices of Sean M. Cleary to make sure that critical evidence is preserved before the site of the fire is restored and essential evidence is destroyed forever.
If you were the victim of a devastating house fire resulting in severe injury or the wrongful death of a loved one, do not hesitate to contact our personal injury attorney. We can assist you by negotiating with the liable party so you can get the care you need and focus on your recovery.
If you, or a loved one, were injured in a house or apartment fire, call us for a free initial house fire injury case evaluation and caring, experienced, and determined legal representation.
