When a Fire or Explosion Changes Everything

Fire & Explosion Burn Injury Lawyers for Unsafe Property Victims

You were in an apartment, a hotel room, a rental house, or at work. It was a place you didn’t own or control. Then a fire broke out. Or something exploded.

Now you face skin grafts, a long stay in a burn unit, and bills you never agreed to. Maybe a broken smoke detector caused it. Maybe it was a leaking gas line or a faulty appliance. You should not have to pay for that.

Did a fire or explosion leave you or a loved one with severe burns? You may have a legal claim. It would be against the party who failed to keep the place — or the product — reasonably safe.

Below, in plain language, we explain three things:

• When someone else is responsible.
• What a claim actually pays for.
• How burn cases are valued.

This includes the question most people ask first: how much can I recover?

CHG Personal Injury Lawyers is a Florida-based firm. We handle catastrophic burn cases nationwide. We take only life-altering injuries — no fender-benders, no minor burns.

Get a free, confidential case evaluation. No cost, no obligation, in English or Spanish.

If a Fire or Explosion Left You With Severe Burns

Severe burns are among the worst injuries a person can survive. Recovery takes months and years, not days.

A catastrophic burn case often involves:

• Third- and fourth-degree burns that destroy skin, muscle, or bone
• Skin grafts and repeated surgery, often over years
• Amputation or loss of a limb
• Inhalation injury from smoke and toxic fumes
• Permanent scarring, disfigurement, and disability
• The loss of a loved one in a fatal fire or explosion

Burn treatment is uniquely expensive and long. According to the American Burn Association, tens of thousands of people are hospitalized for burns in the United States each year. Severe cases are usually treated in special burn centers.

That care includes ICU stays, surgeries, infection control, and rehab. This is why it matters so much to place the responsibility — and the cost — correctly.

Who This Page Is For

You may recognize your situation here:

• Survivors of apartment, house, or building fires. These come from bad wiring, missing or dead smoke detectors, blocked or locked exits, or fire-code violations.
• People hurt in gas explosions, propane or natural-gas leaks, and equipment or industrial blasts
• Victims burned in fires at hotels, restaurants, bars, stores, or on the job
• Families who lost someone in a fatal fire or explosion and want answers

A note on scope: this page covers serious, permanent burns and the accidents that cause them. It does not cover minor burns that fully heal.

When Someone Else May Be Legally Responsible

Fires rarely “just happen.” Usually, they trace back to a choice or a failure. Someone who had a duty to keep others safe let people down. You do not need to know any legal terms to have a case. You just need to know what happened.

Parties often at fault include:

• Landlords and property owners. Think broken or missing smoke detectors, no working extinguishers, blocked or padlocked fire exits, ignored electrical hazards, and fire-code violations. Florida landlords, for example, must follow the state Fire Prevention Code and Fla. Stat. §83.51. This law requires them to keep the property safe and up to code.
• Gas and utility companies. Leaking lines, faulty meters, and unsafe installation or repair.
• Contractors and maintenance companies. Careless electrical, HVAC, or repair work that sparks a fire.
• Product manufacturers. Defective appliances, lithium-ion batteries, space heaters, or wiring that overheats or ignites.

Once we know the cause, the law gives it a name.

• Did a property owner fail to keep the place reasonably safe? That’s premises liability.
• Did a company act carelessly? That’s negligence.
• Was a product defective? That’s product liability — the maker’s responsibility for a dangerous product.

You don’t need these words to call us. Just tell us what happened.

What Our Representation Covers

We handle the investigation and legal work so you can focus on healing:

• Investigating and preserving evidence — fast. We work to secure the scene and get the fire marshal’s report. We study burn patterns and hire fire, electrical, and explosion experts. Scenes get cleared and appliances get thrown out quickly. So early action matters.
• Finding every responsible party. A single fire often involves a landlord, a maintenance contractor, and a product maker. We identify each one and every insurance policy that applies.
• Documenting your full medical picture. This covers ICU and burn-unit care, skin grafts and reconstructive surgery, amputation, infection, and long-term rehab.
• Building your damages. These include current and future medical bills, lost income, lost earning ability, disfigurement, pain and suffering, and lifelong care needs.
• Handling wrongful-death and survival claims. When a family loses a loved one, we pursue accountability with dignity.

Related injuries we handle: severe burn injuries, amputation injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and spinal cord injuries.

How Much Can You Recover for a Burn Injury?

Almost everyone asks this. The honest answer is: it depends on specific, measurable things. There is no magic number. And no ethical lawyer will promise you a number up front.

What we can explain clearly are the types of compensation and the factors that drive value.

Damages fall into two main groups:

• Economic damages — the costs you can add up. This means hospital and surgery bills, future medical care (grafts and reconstruction can continue for years), medications, lost wages, reduced earning ability, and the cost of changing your home or vehicle.
• Non-economic damages — the harm that doesn’t come with a receipt. This means disfigurement and scarring, physical pain, emotional suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life. In severe burn cases, visible, permanent scarring is often a major driver of value.

What actually moves the number up or down:

1. Burn depth and body-surface area. Deep (third-/fourth-degree) burns over a large area mean more surgery and more permanent damage.
2. Location. Burns to the face, hands, or genitals carry heavier disfigurement and functional harm.
3. Future care. A young survivor facing decades of reconstruction usually has far higher lifetime costs.
4. Lost earning ability. Can you return to your old work — or any work?
5. Available insurance and the number of at-fault parties. More responsible parties can mean more coverage to reach.

In cases with especially reckless conduct, punitive damages may be available where the law permits. This is money meant to punish wrongdoing.

Also be aware that Florida uses modified comparative negligence under Fla. Stat. §768.81. This means a person found more than 50% at fault generally recovers nothing. And any award is reduced by your share of fault. Rules differ by state. We’ll explain how yours applies.

How the Process Works

1. Free case evaluation. You tell us what happened. No cost, no obligation.
2. Investigation and evidence preservation. We move quickly to secure the scene, records, and expert analysis before evidence disappears.
3. Building your case. We identify responsible parties and insurance. Then we document your medical and financial losses in full.
4. Filing and negotiating. We file the claim and negotiate with the insurers.
5. Litigation and trial. If no fair settlement is offered, we’re ready to take your case to court.

Burn cases often take time on purpose. Treatment is ongoing. Settling before your future costs are clear can shortchange you.

But deadlines are firm. In Florida, you must file most negligence-based injury claims within two years under Fla. Stat. §95.11(4)(a). (This deadline was shortened from four years by 2023’s tort reform.) Deadlines vary by state, so contact us promptly.

Why Families Choose CHG Personal Injury Lawyers

• A catastrophic-injury focus. We handle severe burns, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, and amputation — serious cases only. We are not a general firm that fits burn cases in around traffic tickets.
• Licensed Florida attorneys. Our lawyers are admitted to The Florida Bar. We’re Florida-based and take catastrophic cases nationwide.
• Early, thorough investigation. We treat origin-and-cause work as the foundation of a strong claim.
• Bilingual support. Full service in English and Spanish — atención en español.
• Contingency fees. In personal-injury cases, you typically pay no attorney fee unless we recover money for you.

Common Questions

Talk to a Fire & Explosion Burn Injury Lawyer

Medical bills pile up. Work stops. The road ahead looks uncertain. You don’t have to face it alone.

Were you or someone you love severely burned in a fire or explosion? We’ll listen. We’ll explain your options in plain language. And we’ll act fast to protect the evidence and deadlines that matter.

Request your free, confidential case evaluation. No pressure, no obligation — bilingual help is available.