What Causes Severe Burn Injuries?

Causes of Severe Burn Injuries in Accidents

By Igor Hernandez, CHG Lawyers, Coral Gables, Florida

When a Burn Changes Everything

Picture a crash on a highway, a fire in an apartment building, a scald in a hotel bathroom, or a flash fire at a job site. Afterward, the injured person may face surgeries, skin grafts, and questions no one prepared the family for. Many families ask the same thing you may be asking: how did this happen, and could someone else be responsible?

This page answers both questions in plain language. It covers severe burns, the kind that can mean surgeries, skin grafts, and permanent scarring. It does not address minor burns that typically heal on their own.

What Counts as a Severe Burn Injury

A catastrophic burn is a deep, disfiguring, or widespread burn that causes permanent damage, loss of function, or death. These can include third- and fourth-degree burns, or burns that cover a large part of the body.

Minor burns, like a small kitchen scald or sunburn, are different. Catastrophic burns can involve the face, hands, or airway. Some require extended hospital care, repeated surgeries, and skin grafts.

The American Burn Association explains that a burn’s severity depends on its depth and size, the person’s age, its location, and whether there’s an inhalation injury from smoke or fumes.

How Burns Are Classified by Degree

Doctors classify burns by how deep they go, from first degree to fourth degree. The deeper the burn, the more serious the harm.

• First-degree burns affect only the top layer of skin. Think of a mild sunburn: red and painful, but not blistered.
• Second-degree burns go deeper and cause blisters, swelling, and severe pain.
• Third-degree burns destroy all layers of skin. The skin may look white, brown, or leathery.
• Fourth-degree burns reach muscle, tendon, or even bone.

How Can I Tell if a Burn Is Second- or Third-Degree?

A second-degree burn often blisters and hurts a lot. A third-degree burn often looks white, charred, or leathery, and it may feel numb because the nerves are damaged. That numbness can be dangerous, because it can lead people to think a burn is minor when it is serious.

Only a medical professional can diagnose a burn correctly. This page is general information, not medical advice. Always follow your doctors.

The Four Main Types of Severe Burns

Severe burns fall into four main types: thermal, chemical, electrical, and radiation or friction burns. Each happens in different accidents and can cause different injuries.

Thermal burns come from fire, flames, hot liquids, steam, hot surfaces, and explosions. According to the World Health Organization, a burn is an injury that is primarily caused by heat.

Chemical burns happen when strong acids, alkalis, or industrial chemicals touch the skin, eyes, or airway. These can keep burning long after the first contact.

Electrical burns come from high-voltage contact, faulty wiring, or downed power lines. They can be worse than they look. The current can cause deep internal damage while the skin shows only a small mark.

Radiation and friction burns include sun and radiation exposure, plus road-rash friction burns from crashes. These become catastrophic when they are deep or cover a large area.

What Causes Severe Burns?

Fire, flame contact, and scalds from hot liquids are among the causes of serious burns. The Johns Hopkins Medicine site notes that smoking and open flame are the top causes for older adults, while scalding is the top cause for children.

Burns can become more severe when a person cannot escape a fire or spill, or when an explosion is involved. Blocked exits and missing safety devices can make that escape harder.

Accident Scenarios That Can Cause Catastrophic Burns

Burns from accidents can happen in several kinds of situations. Recognizing yours can help you understand who may be responsible.

Vehicle and truck crashes. A high-speed collision can rupture a fuel tank and start a fuel-fed fire. Tanker trucks and cargo trucks may carry flammable or hazardous loads. When a crash traps someone inside a burning vehicle, the results can be devastating. Learn more about truck accidents and how they cause serious harm.

House and building fires. Defective smoke detectors, blocked exits, and poor maintenance may turn a fire into a far more dangerous one.

Workplace and industrial accidents. Flash fires, chemical spills, arc flash, and electrocution can injure workers. Defective equipment may play a role. Injuries on the job are generally handled through workers’ compensation, and other claims may be possible depending on the facts.

Defective products. Exploding batteries, faulty appliances, flammable clothing, and unsafe gas equipment can all cause severe burns. Whether a product is defective is a question that depends on the facts of each case.

Explosions and gas leaks. Propane, natural gas, and pipeline incidents can cause serious burns and blast injuries.

Scald and thermal injuries in commercial settings. Overheated water in a hotel, hot equipment in a restaurant, or unsafe rental conditions can lead to deep burns.

Trucking Cases: More Than One Party May Be Involved

Trucking cases can involve more than one company. Depending on the facts, responsibility may involve the driver, the motor carrier, a freight broker, or the owner of the truck or cargo.

In Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC, No. 24-1238, decided May 14, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court addressed a broker’s role. The Court held that a state-law claim that a broker negligently hired an unsafe motor carrier falls within the FAAAA’s safety exception, which saves it from preemption. Read the opinion. That decision addressed federal preemption. It does not decide whether any particular claim will succeed. Whether a broker, carrier, driver, or owner may be responsible depends on the facts of each case and applicable law.

When a Property Owner or Another Party May Be Responsible

Burn injuries from unsafe property can sometimes support a claim. Picture this: a fire breaks out in an apartment, hotel, or business. The exits are blocked. The smoke alarms don’t work. The building wasn’t maintained. People get trapped and badly hurt.

When that happens, the property owner may bear responsibility.

Other parties can also share fault. A manufacturer may be responsible for a defective product. An employer may be responsible for unsafe workplace conditions. A trucking company may be responsible for a fuel-fed fire.

Some burns happen when a person is attacked or a fire is set on property where basic security was missing, such as working locks, gates, lighting, or cameras. If you were hurt on someone else’s property in that way, the legal question may be whether the owner exercised reasonable care to provide security. The legal term for this is negligent security. Our page on negligent security explains these claims in plain language.

Serious Complications of Severe Burns

Severe burns can cause complications that go far beyond the skin. The most serious include infection and sepsis, dangerous fluid loss and shock, breathing problems from smoke inhalation, deep scarring, and permanent nerve damage.

• Infection and sepsis: burned skin may not protect the body from germs as it normally does.
• Fluid loss and shock: large burns can cause the body to lose fluid quickly.
• Inhalation injury: breathing smoke or fumes can damage the airway and lungs.
• Scarring and contractures: tight, thick scars can limit movement in a joint.
• Permanent nerve damage: deep burns can damage nerves and cause lasting pain or numbness.
• Organ stress and psychological trauma: the body and mind both can take a heavy toll.

These complications can lead to long treatment. Keeping detailed medical records matters for any burn injury from an accident. Outcomes vary, and they depend on the person’s medical condition and the advice of their doctors.

When a Burn Leads to Death: Wrongful Death and the Family Left Behind

The most catastrophic outcome of a burn is a death. If your family has lost a loved one, the grief may be overwhelming, and the questions that follow can feel impossible to face all at once.

Families in this situation may have questions about records, the accident report, who may bring a claim, and how time limits may apply. Those answers depend on the facts of the case and applicable Florida law. Families should not assume they do or do not have a claim before a review of those facts.

Steps that may help include keeping all hospital and medical records, collecting any accident or fire reports, saving photographs and any product involved, and writing down the names of witnesses and responding agencies while memories are fresh. Our wrongful death page explains the claims a family may bring, with the dignity your loss deserves.

What to Do After a Severe Burn Caused by an Accident

Get medical care first, then protect your records and any evidence.

• Prioritize medical care and follow-up. Follow your doctors’ instructions and keep every bill, report, and treatment record.
• Preserve evidence when you can. Photograph the scene, save any defective product, and get incident reports and witness contacts.
• Act promptly. Filing deadlines may apply to your claim. Which deadline applies depends on the type of claim and the facts. Under Fla. Stat. § 768.81, in negligence actions filed after March 24, 2023, an injured person whose own share of fault is greater than 50% is generally barred from recovering damages, while in other cases the injured person’s share of fault may reduce the damages awarded; the statute has exceptions, including certain medical negligence actions, and how it applies depends on the facts of each case and applicable Florida law. Comparative fault may therefore limit what can be recovered. Contact CHG promptly to discuss timing.

Igor Hernandez is licensed in Florida as a member of The Florida Bar. CHG focuses on personal injury matters throughout Florida, including severe burn injuries, and handles cases of any severity. No specific result can be promised.

Contact CHG to discuss your situation. CHG charges no attorney’s fees and no case costs unless there is a recovery.

Learn More About Severe Burn Injury Claims

For a full overview of burn injury claims, visit our main resource hub on severe burn injuries. You can also explore related pages on catastrophic injury claims and truck accidents to learn how these injuries happen and who may be responsible.

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