Being a victim of a large fire or another serious burn injury can be one of the most devastating events one can go through. Victims of fires are often left with physical and emotional scars as well as immense pain and suffering. Serious burns can require years of continuous care and rehabilitation, and often leave the victim with overwhelming medical bills and lost wages.

If a burn injury was caused by someone else’s negligence, the victim may be able to seek compensation. If you or a loved one was injured in a fire or have sustained other burn injuries, you don’t have to face the insurance companies alone: Contact our team of proven Pennsylvania burn injury lawyers today for a free case review. Stark & Stark’s personal injury lawyers have the skill and experience to navigate the complexities of a burn injury lawsuit and have spent decades helping victims in similarly life-changing situations.

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Common Causes of Burn Injuries

According to the CDC, 1 million people in the U.S. each year experience burn injuries that require medical attention. Some examples of burn injuries include:

Structural Fires: Whether it was an accident, arson, faulty wiring, or a landlord that fails to follow fire safety guidelines, structure fires can result in the devastating loss of property and sometimes life. Structural fires often fall under premises liability.
Motor Vehicle Accidents: Burns can happen during and after automobile accidents, due to gas explosions or contact with hot metal.
Workplace accidents: According to data by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), fire and explosions alone cause 5,000 workplace injuries each year. Chemical burns from strong chemicals or acids are more common in workplace accidents, as well as gas explosions.
Product Liability: If a faulty product caught on fire, electrocuted someone, or exploded, any victims who sustained injuries from the defective product may file a product liability lawsuit. Manufacturers are responsible for ensuring their products are safe for use.

Types of Burn Injuries

Medical professionals use levels of degrees to classify the severity of a burn injury.

First-degree: These minor burns generally do not require any medical intervention. First-degree burns are often the result of activities like touching a hot pot or a hair straightener.
Second-degree: Second-degree burns affect the top two layers of skin. They are characterized by blistering and often require medical treatment. Second-degree burns can take weeks to heal and a burst blister may lead to subsequent infection.
Third-degree: Third-degree burns require immediate medical attention, and can affect the bones and organs. Third-degree burns can cause hypothermia, permanent nerve damage, and even death.

Burn Injury Liability

You have the right to pursue a burn injury lawsuit when someone else’s negligence causes your injury. Victims that have experienced burn injuries may fail to realize that someone else’s negligence caused them harm, and are potentially liable for their condition. Examples of this include:

Car Accidents: If a burn injury is sustained due to a car accident and the other driver was at least partially at fault, you may be able to seek compensation for your damages.
Product Liability: If a consumer is burned by a product, the product’s manufacturer may be held liable.
Premises Liability: If a landlord or property manager’s negligence caused or led to a fire in a home, apartment, or condo building, this may be grounds for a premises liability lawsuit to recover damages from your burn injury.

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How Much is My Pennsylvania Burn Injury Case Worth?

Burn injuries have the potential to be life-changing and one of the most expensive injuries to recover from. Burn injury lawsuits can be complex, but several factors can greatly affect the value of your case.

Medical bills: The cost of medical treatment for a burn injury can widely vary, with severe burns costing hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars. Medical bills include hospital and doctor’s visits, surgery, medication, and rehab, as well as any future care.
Lost wages: A severe burn requires substantial recovery time and can leave you out of work for weeks, months, or even years. By filing a burn injury lawsuit, you may be able to recover lost wages for the amount of time you missed from work while you recovered. If you are unable to return to work, you may be able to recover possible future income.
Pain and suffering: Serious burns can cause intense physical pain, and often require months or even years to recover from. Pain and suffering damages cover the physical pain as well as the mental pain and emotional anguish that are often a result of a severe burn injury. It can be hard to assign a monetary value to someone’s pain and suffering, but one of our experienced burn injury lawyers will know how to aggressively negotiate with the insurance companies to recover the mental, physical, and emotional damages you may have incurred.

Do I Need a Pennsylvania Burn Injury Attorney?

While it is possible to make a claim without an attorney, the best way to find out if you need legal counsel on your side is to sit down and talk with one of our burn injury lawyers about your case. Our Pennsylvania burn injury attorneys offer free consultations and we work on a contingency-fee-basis, meaning that we won’t get paid unless you do.

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One benefit of hiring our burn injury law firm is that we will handle most of the tasks and paperwork required to pursue compensation on your behalf, allowing you to focus on your recovery. One of our skilled personal injury lawyers will gather all of the necessary records and send out experts like investigators, engineers, and chemists to help find out the origin of what caused the fire. They will depose witnesses, negotiate with the insurance companies, and help to protect your rights while you work on getting better.

Contact Our Pennsylvania Burn Injury Lawyers Today

Our Stark & Stark burn injury lawyers have over 40 years of experience protecting the rights of victims in Pennsylvania. Our personal injury attorneys are relentless in their pursuit to protect your rights and recover any compensation you may be entitled to.

Schedule a free legal consultation with one of our knowledgeable Pennsylvania burn injury attorneys.