Hurt in an Explosion? Proving Who Is at Fault

Explosion and Fire Injuries: Proving Fault When a Blast or Blaze Causes Catastrophic Burns

Did someone’s carelessness cause the explosion or fire that burned you? If so, you may have a valid claim. It comes down to two questions. Who failed to act safely? And how did that failure cause the blast or fire? This page explains how that works. We write it in plain language, for the injured person and the family — not for lawyers.

Maybe you or someone you love suffered severe burns in an explosion or fire. If so, you’re likely scared, exhausted, and buried in medical decisions. Blast and fire burns are some of the most painful, life-changing injuries there are. Deep burns can damage tissue down to the muscle. They often mean repeated surgeries, skin grafts, permanent scars, and months or years of rehab.

This page covers catastrophic, life-changing burns from explosions and fires. That includes the most tragic outcome of all. Sometimes a family loses a loved one and brings a wrongful-death claim. For a broader overview, see our pillar page on severe burn injuries.

What causes explosions and fires that lead to severe burns

Most serious explosions and fires start with a preventable mistake. Someone should have been more careful. In the catastrophic-injury cases our attorneys handle, a clear cause almost always shows up once the facts come out.

Common causes include:

• Natural gas and propane leaks in homes, apartments, and businesses.
• Defective products — faulty appliances, lithium-ion batteries, water heaters, or industrial equipment.
• Industrial and workplace incidents. These include chemical reactions and arc flash. An arc flash is a sudden electrical explosion. It can get hotter than the surface of the sun.
• Building fires from bad wiring, blocked exits, missing smoke alarms, poor upkeep, or code violations.
• Vehicle and fuel fires, including truck crashes carrying flammable or hazardous cargo.

Here’s some context on how common this is. Home structure fires cause most U.S. fire deaths. Cooking is the top cause of home fires and home-fire injuries. This comes from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA fire data). Each of these causes points to a person or company that may have failed to keep people safe. That failure is the heart of any explosion or fire claim.

How fault is proven in an explosion or fire injury case

Fault comes down to negligence. That means someone had a duty to act safely but failed to do so. And that failure caused the fire or explosion and your injuries. Proving this takes real investigation, not guesswork.

The starting point is often a cause-and-origin investigation. It finds where the fire or blast started and what set it off. Trained experts examine the scene. These include fire marshals, forensic engineers, and cause-and-origin experts. In Florida, the State Fire Marshal’s office investigates fires of suspicious or unknown origin (Florida Division of State Fire Marshal). Their findings can point straight to the responsible party.

Product liability when a defective device is involved

Sometimes a defective gas appliance, battery, or piece of equipment causes the explosion. Then the maker may be responsible. This is called product liability. It’s a legal claim against the company that made the product. The claim asks whether the product was badly designed, badly made, or sold without proper warnings. It also asks whether that defect made the product unreasonably dangerous.

Property and maintenance failures

Sometimes a building owner or manager fails to fix a known danger. Think of a reported gas smell, exposed wiring, or a disconnected smoke detector. That’s a premises failure — a hazard on someone’s property. If the danger was there and they ignored it, they may share the blame.

Often more than one party is at fault. A property owner, a manufacturer, a contractor, a utility, and an employer can each play a role. Florida uses a comparative fault rule. This means your share of the blame lowers your compensation. Under Fla. Stat. §768.81, your payment drops in line with any fault assigned to you. And under the 2023 change, if you are found more than 50% at fault, you generally recover nothing. Insurers know this rule. They will try to shift blame onto you. That’s exactly why proving fault carefully matters so much.

Who can be held responsible after an explosion or fire

The responsible party is whoever’s negligence caused the blast or fire. Often it’s more than one company. Parties who may be responsible include:

• Property and business owners who didn’t keep conditions safe.
• Manufacturers of defective gas equipment, appliances, batteries, or products.
• Utility companies and gas suppliers with unsafe lines or careless service.
• Contractors, installers, and maintenance companies that did faulty work.
• Trucking companies in fuel or hazardous-cargo crashes. See our truck accidents page.

You don’t need to know who’s at fault before you reach out. Finding every responsible party is a main goal of the investigation.

Why evidence disappears fast — and how to protect it

Most articles skip this part. But it may be the most important. The evidence that proves an explosion case can vanish within days. Fire scenes get cleared and torn down. Buildings get repaired. Burned-out appliances get hauled to a landfill — along with the “black box” data inside them. Utilities replace damaged gas lines. A family cleaning up may throw out the very product that caused the harm.

Once that physical evidence is gone, it can be gone for good. No expert can examine a part that no longer exists.

Here are practical steps that help protect your claim:

• Do not throw anything away. Keep the damaged appliance, heater, battery, wiring, or product — even if it’s melted or destroyed. Store it somewhere dry and undisturbed. Don’t try to “test” or repair it.
• Photograph and video everything before any cleanup. Capture the scene, the damage, the burned area, the product, and the injuries.
• Write down the make, model, and serial number of any product involved. Keep the box, manual, and receipt if you have them.
• Ask that the scene not be touched if it’s safe and possible. Note the names of any responders, inspectors, and witnesses.
• Request the fire-department and 911 records — or ask your attorney to. These records show the time, the cause findings, and the first observations.
• Keep every medical record that ties the burns directly to the incident.

A licensed attorney can send a formal evidence-preservation letter. It’s also called a “spoliation” letter. It demands that property owners, manufacturers, and insurers keep the relevant items and data intact. The sooner that letter goes out, the better your odds of keeping proof. This is educational guidance, not a promise about your case.

Is an explosion covered by insurance?

An explosion may be covered by insurance. But coverage depends on the type of policy and who was at fault. Several kinds may apply: homeowner or renter policies, commercial general liability, and product liability coverage. For workplace explosions, separate workers’-compensation and third-party systems may apply.

Insurers often dispute what caused the explosion or who’s to blame. They may argue the fire started another way. They may say a product was misused. Or they may say you share fault under §768.81. This is exactly why an independent cause-and-origin investigation matters. It gives you evidence to counter a low offer or a denial.

Is a burn considered a traumatic injury?

Yes. Severe burns are serious, traumatic injuries with lasting physical and emotional effects. A catastrophic burn isn’t a temporary wound. It can change a person’s life forever.

Deep burns often bring dangerous complications. These include infection, the need for repeated skin grafts, and permanent disfigurement. They can also cause contractures that limit movement. And they can bring lasting emotional trauma, including anxiety, depression, and PTSD.

Explosions and fires can cause far more than skin burns. Breathing in smoke and superheated gases can injure the airway and lungs. This can be life-threatening even hours later. A blast can also throw a person. That can cause a traumatic brain injury or a spinal cord injury. The Mayo Clinic notes that a spinal cord injury can cause permanent changes in strength and feeling below the injury site (Mayo Clinic). This page focuses on catastrophic, permanent burns — not minor ones.

What compensation may be available

Compensation depends entirely on the facts of your case. Be careful of any website promising an “average” burn settlement or a set dollar figure. No honest attorney can predict your result. Every case is different.

Damages that may be available in a catastrophic burn case include:

• Medical bills, from the emergency room through ongoing treatment.
• Future care and surgeries, including skin grafts and reconstruction.
• Lost income and reduced earning ability if you can’t return to your old work.
• Pain and suffering, both physical and emotional.
• Scarring and disfigurement, treated as a separate, lasting harm.

When a family loses a loved one to an explosion or fire, they may bring a wrongful-death claim. A death is the most catastrophic outcome there is. These cases deserve to be handled with dignity. Florida law sets firm deadlines. Under Fla. Stat. §95.11, most negligence claims that arose on or after March 24, 2023 must be filed within two years. Different deadlines can apply to claims against government bodies and to certain other cases. So confirm yours. You can read the current statutes yourself on Online Sunshine.

What to do after a catastrophic explosion or fire injury

Your first priority is medical care. Everything else follows from getting proper treatment.

1. Get and continue medical care. Keep every appointment and follow your doctors’ plans.
2. Preserve the evidence described above — especially any product, appliance, or part — if it’s safe to do so.
3. Keep records of your expenses and how the injury affects daily life.
4. Be careful with early insurer calls. You are not required to give a recorded statement right away.
5. Talk to a licensed attorney to learn your options and get a preservation letter out quickly.

Our firm handles catastrophic-injury cases in Florida — including Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Jacksonville — and nationwide. For a broader look, see our catastrophic injury claims page.

Talk to CHG Personal Injury Lawyers about your explosion or fire injury

You don’t have to sort this out alone. Did you or your family suffer a catastrophic burn from a blast or blaze? We’re here to listen and explain your options — with no pressure and no confusing legal talk.

CHG Personal Injury Lawyers are licensed attorneys admitted to The Florida Bar. We offer support in both English and Spanish. We can’t promise a result, and no honest firm can. What we can do is help you understand your rights and what steps make sense next.

To talk with our team, request a free case evaluation. For more reading, visit our pillar page on severe burn injuries.

Frequently asked questions