Fires, Explosions, and Electrical Injury Lawyers
Among the most devastating and painful injuries we see at Gage Mathers are burn injuries, which result in life-changing disabilities and often death. When dealing with injuries from a fire, explosion, or electrocution, injury lawyers need to understand the cause of injury as well as their client’s lifetime care needs.
Complicated Burn Cases Require Informed Lawyers
Burn injuries can be caused by a variety of negligent actions, or inaction, and can arise in a variety of ways:
- Auto Crash
Often after a crash, the vehicles will start to catch fire, or the deployed air bags may cause burn injuries. - Plane Crash
Like with cars, small planes often catch fire after a crash. - Helicopter Crash
Like with cars, helicopter crashes often result in fires. - ATV Wreck
Like road vehicles, these off-road vehicles also must be designed to avoid “spilling” gas at impact and often are not. - Fuel Fed Fire
Often minor crashes turn devastating because spilled fuel catches fire after impact, which is sometimes the result of a faulty design. - Thermal Burn Injury
Thermal burn injuries can happen in many circumstances where there is exposure to flames, hot liquids, steam, or hot metals. - Propane/Natural Gas Explosion
With natural gas and propane, a small spark, and even static electricity, can cause a huge explosion.
Understanding the Full Scope of Damages
Injury victims who survive significant burn injuries often suffer with chronic, unrelenting pain. Their needs vary from the immediate, to the short-term, to the long-term. The primary concern is ensuring the injury victim obtains the appropriate health care to avoid loss of life or limb, control pain, and limit disability. Treatments include wound care, skin grafts, pain management, and various forms of therapy. This will also have devastating impacts on family. So, burn injury victims need experienced lawyers who understand the full scope of damages that result from these injuries.
Electrocution injuries, which can include burn injuries, are caused by the heat generated when your body tries to resist the electric current as it courses through the body. The current flows, and the heat increases as the current tries to exit the body. Electricity flowing through the body has devastating effects, both internal and external, including heart disturbances, burns, scars, and more. Electrical explosions and arc fault explosions are usually caused by voltage transients (spikes), resulting from switching reactive loads, or lightning strikes.
Negligence that causes arc faults include:
- Improperly installed parts,
- Worn or loose connections,
- Failure to abide by industry standard warnings and protections,
- Gaps in insulation, and
- Dust and corrosion from poor maintenance.
Electrical injuries can be from Arc or Flash Burns and Thermal Contact Burns. An arc flash is the light and heat from the explosion, and an arc blast is the pressure wave that follows. Temperatures from an arc flash are high enough to instantly ignite clothing and burn skin. The arc flash also can cause lung injuries, eyesight impairment, and loss of life or limb. The arc blast is usually strong enough to throw anyone to the ground and can cause hearing loss and brain damage. Internal injuries are often the worst type of injuries because they cause the greatest damage and are often the hardest to detect. Injuries can include organ damage, internal bleeding, coagulation issues, tissue damage, dehydration, and nerve and muscle damage, often resulting in kidney damage and death. Injuries may also include seizures, tinnitus, weakness, imbalance, memory difficulties, irritability, depression, PTSD, and other neuropsychological injuries.
Experienced Fire and Explosion Lawyers Can Help
If the victim survives their burn injuries, they often experience chronic pain, scarring, and disability. They will require a lifetime of care. An experienced injury attorney knows that victims will need sufficient funds for future medical bills and fair compensation for future pain and suffering, in addition to reasonable compensation for past medical bills, pain, and suffering. If the injuries prevent the victim from working, compensation may include money for lost earnings.
Connect With Our Law Office For More Information
Fire, explosion, and electrocution cases often are the most complex cases and require immediate attention of an experienced trial lawyer. Gage Mathers’s lawyers have decades of experience litigating cases involving fires, explosions, and electrical injuries. If you or a loved one suffered a fire, explosion, or electrocution injury, call Gage Mathers today for a free consultation to see if they can help you obtain the compensation you deserve.