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House and apartment fires are responsible for thousands of injuries and deaths every year throughout the United States. Fires spread fast, and although fire departments respond as quickly as possible, it takes only minutes for serious injury or loss of life to occur. Burns and smoke inhalation are the two most common injuries suffered during house and apartment fires. People in the home may also suffer injury due to structural collapse, lacerations due to broken windows, or falls while attempting to escape the burning structure. Let our Overland Park fire and explosion lawyers handle your case strategically.

Representing Injured Fire Victims with Our Overland Park Fire and Explosion Lawyers

Joseph, Hollander & Craft’s team of personal injury and wrongful death attorneys have recovered millions for victims of structure fires in Kansas and Missouri. If you or a loved one has suffered injury as a result of a fire or explosion, contact JHC’s Overland Park fire and explosion lawyers immediately. We want to help you recover the financial compensation you need.

Holding Responsible Parties Accountable for Preventable House Fires

The majority of structure fires are preventable. If a landlord is following building, electrical, and fire codes, tragedies can be prevented. When someone is injured or dies in a fire, it is likely the case that someone was negligent. For example, almost sixty percent of fire deaths are caused by fires in homes where smoke alarms are either missing (35%) or where a smoke alarm was present but failed to operate (17%). Your landlord is responsible for ensuring you have adequate fire alarms and that they work properly. If your landlord’s negligence resulted in an alarm failure and you suffered injury as a result, you may have a claim against the landlord.

Do I Have a Claim for My Fire Injury?

Each and every day, you place your trust in a number of people to make sure your family is safe from fire. This is why it is so crucial to know who is responsible for providing these lifesaving measures to keep you and your loved ones safe. With this in mind, some of the parties that may owe you a duty of care include:

• Owner of the rented house or apartment: Landlords owe a duty of care to their tenants and invitees. This means that the landlord must ensure that the premises are reasonably safe when you move in.
• Property Manager: If property managers are responsible for making or facilitating repairs or maintenance, they too may owe a duty of care related to those responsibilities, despite not owning the property themselves.
• Product Defects: Product manufacturers owe a duty to consumers to ensure their products are reasonably safe. These duties include making sure their products are free of design or manufacturing defects, as well as properly warning of potential dangers their products may pose to consumers like you.
• General Contractor Liability: Whether you are building a new home or renovating your current home, faulty electrical wiring is a serious fire danger. Contractors and subcontractors have professional duties to ensure their work on your home is safe. Failure to adequately protect you may open them up to liability.

Contact Our Overland Park Fire and Explosion Lawyers to Support Your Needs

Contact JHC’s Overland Park fire lawyers, and we will investigate the fire and determine whether you have a case. Our team of personal injury attorneys is highly skilled at determining who is at fault injuries and making sure our clients are fairly compensated.

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What Should I Look for in a Burn Lawyer Like Overland Park Fire and Explosion Lawyers?

If you have sustained burns or other injuries in a fire, it is important that you speak with a personal injury attorney as soon as possible. Insurance companies will almost always attempt to get victims to settle quickly, and you might sign away your rights without knowing it.

When you do hire, hire someone who has experience litigating burn injury cases—like the JHC’s personal injury attorneys in Overland Park. Our team of personal injury and wrongful death lawyers has successfully litigated fire and burn cases with excellent results, so we know what to look for and how to make your best case for compensation. When we investigate the fire we most often find that multiple parties are at fault for your injuries including the manufacturer of a product and the property owner. We partner with nationally recognized medical professionals, engineers and fire investigators to determine what happened in the fire that caused you injury. Our team has the resources and the experience to fight the large insurance companies. Contact our Overland Park fire attorneys today for your free case evaluation.

FAQs

What injuries occur after fires and explosions?

The most common type of injury caused by fires and explosions is burns. Burns are categorized based on how deeply the burn penetrated the skin.

• First-Degree Burns are the most common. A surface burn that causes the skin to become red and sore, first-degree burns are the least severe.
• Second-Degree Burns involve damage to both the inner and outer layers of skin and result in moderate to severe pain, swelling, and discoloration.
• Third-Degree Burns are also known as full thickness burns. They affect the bottom layer of skin and muscle tissue.
• Fourth-Degree Burns are very severe and can be fatal. These burns affect all levels of skin, and even bones can be affected.

Explosion injuries vary, but the victims usually have little time to react, resulting in more severe or catastrophic injuries. For example:

• Blunt force trauma occurs when debris hits the victim with sufficient force to inflict injury or death.
• Traumatic brain injuries may result from getting thrown in the blast.
• Burn injuries can occur when the explosion creates fire and heat.
• Blast lung is the most common cause of explosion-related fatalities.
• Smoke inhalation can be life-threatening.

How do home fires start?

According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), over a five-year time period, cooking equipment was the leading cause of house fires and smoking devices were the leading cause of home fatality fires. Numerous other home fire injuries result from faulty electrical systems, heating equipment, and intentional fire setting.