When a Severe Burn Changes Everything, Know Your Rights

Severe Burn Injuries in Florida: Your Rights, Recovery & Legal Options

Are you or someone you love facing a severe burn? The first hours and days feel overwhelming. There are surgeries and dressing changes. You may not know if the skin will heal. You may fear what comes next. Before we talk about the law, here is the practical part.

Right now, it helps to:

• Follow the burn team’s plan. Keep every appointment, even small ones.
• Ask the hospital for a copy of your records and treatment summary. You have a right to them.
• Photograph the injuries as they heal. Keep a simple daily note about pain, movement, and mood.
• Save anything tied to how the burn happened. This includes the product, its packaging, incident or fire reports, and the names of anyone who was there.
• Don’t give a recorded statement to an insurer. Don’t sign anything until you’ve had time to think it through.

This page is for people dealing with serious, life-changing burns. Did your burn heal on its own in a few days? Then this isn’t the page for you. But are you facing skin grafts, a burn-center stay, or permanent damage? Then keep reading. Florida law gives you real options.

When a burn changes your life

A catastrophic burn is deep or wide enough to need special care and cause lasting harm. Doctors sort severe burns in a few ways:

• Third-degree burns destroy the full thickness of the skin.
• Fourth-degree burns reach past the skin into muscle, tendon, or bone.
• Major second-degree burns cover a large area and often need skin grafts.
• Burns that need hospital care, burn-center care, or surgery.
• Burns that leave permanent scarring, disfigurement (lasting change to how you look), nerve damage, or amputation.

Florida has only a few verified adult burn centers. They include the Kearny Center for Burn Care at Jackson Memorial in Miami, UF Health Shands in Gainesville, Orlando Regional Medical Center, and Tampa General. These centers meet the American Burn Association’s burn center verification standards. Was your care moved to one of these? That transfer alone shows how serious the injury is.

How severe burns happen in Florida

The cause matters. It points to who may be legally responsible.

• Truck and vehicle crashes. A truck accident can rupture a fuel tank and spark a fire or explosion. Victims trapped near burning fuel can suffer some of the worst burns we see.
• Workplace and industrial incidents. Construction sites, commercial kitchens, utilities, and chemical plants all carry burn risks.
• Defective products. Lithium-ion batteries can ignite without warning. You find them in e-bikes, scooters, and phones. Space heaters and flammable goods can catch fire too.
• Electrical and chemical burns. Contact with live wires or industrial chemicals can cause deep, permanent damage.
• Fires on unsafe property. Some fires start because a landlord ignored bad wiring. Others happen when a landlord fails to keep the smoke alarms Florida law requires, or leaves known hazards in place.

A plain-language example. Say you were burned in an apartment fire. Maybe the smoke detectors didn’t work, the wiring was dangerous, or a fire exit was blocked. And the landlord knew about the problem but did nothing. In Florida, a property owner must keep the property reasonably safe. When they fail and someone is badly hurt, the injured person may have a claim against the owner. Lawyers call this premises liability. You don’t need to know the term to know something was wrong.

Sadly, some burn injuries are fatal. When a family loses a loved one this way, Florida’s Wrongful Death Act (Fla. Stat. §768.16–768.26) lets certain family members bring a claim. We handle these cases with care, always focused on the family left behind.

The medical reality of catastrophic burns

Doctors measure burns two ways. First is the degree, or how deep it goes. Second is the total body surface area, or TBSA — how much of the body is hurt. Deeper and larger burns bring more danger. Large burns raise the risk of infection, organ stress, and long hospital stays.

Treatment at a Florida burn center may include:

• Skin grafts. Doctors move healthy skin to cover the wound.
• Reconstructive surgery to restore how the body works and looks.
• Infection control, since burns strip away the skin’s natural barrier.
• Physical and occupational rehab to rebuild strength and movement. This often takes months.

The effects don’t stop when the wounds close. Many survivors live with chronic pain and permanent scars. Scar tissue can tighten and limit movement. Emotional trauma is common too, including anxiety, depression, and PTSD. As the American Burn Association notes, recovery from a major burn is a long process. It reaches far beyond the hospital.

Sometimes a burn also damages nerves or the spinal cord, or leads to amputation. Then the harm multiplies. In those cases, doctors may use the same tools they use for other catastrophic injuries. One example is the ASIA Impairment Scale for spinal-cord injury. Lifetime care can cost a great deal. Those future costs are a real part of a claim.

Your legal options as a Florida burn survivor

Did another person or company cause your burn through negligence? Then you may be able to file a claim. Who is responsible depends on how the burn happened:

• Drivers and trucking companies in fuel-fire crashes.
• Employers or third parties in workplace or industrial burns.
• Manufacturers of defective products that caught fire or leaked chemicals.
• Property owners who failed to fix known fire hazards or provide reasonable safety.

Under Florida law, a burn claim may seek several types of damages. These include medical bills, future care costs, lost income, and lost earning power. A claim can also seek pay for pain and suffering, and for disfigurement. When a family loses someone to fatal burns, a wrongful-death claim can seek support for the family’s losses.

Every case is different, and no lawyer can promise a specific result. But a licensed attorney can do several things. We can investigate what happened. We can preserve evidence before it disappears. We can work with your doctors and life-care planners to document future costs. And we can explain your options clearly.

Florida deadlines and rules you should know

Florida sets strict time limits. Missing one can end your case before it starts.

The filing deadline. Do most Florida negligence claims start on or after March 24, 2023? Then the general deadline to file a lawsuit is two years, under Fla. Stat. §95.11. Before that date, the deadline was four years. This is one reason to confirm your exact deadline with a licensed Florida attorney rather than assume.

Shared fault. Florida follows a modified comparative-negligence rule. This rule shares blame between the parties. Under Fla. Stat. §768.81, are you found more than 50% at fault for your own harm? Then you generally can’t recover damages. Are you partly at fault but 50% or less? Then your recovery drops by your share. For example, if a jury finds you 20% responsible, your award drops by 20%.

Evidence fades fast. After a burn, physical proof disappears quickly. A defective product gets thrown out. A landlord repairs the wiring. An incident report gets filed away. So save your medical records, fire or incident reports, and photos. Save the product itself if a defect caused the fire. Insurers move quickly to protect their money. You don’t have to face that alone.

You can read the official statutes anytime through Florida’s Online Sunshine. You can also review consumer guidance from The Florida Bar.

Serving burn survivors across Florida

We represent severe burn survivors and their families across the whole state. This includes Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Jacksonville. We also take catastrophic-injury cases nationwide.

Our team offers bilingual support in English and Spanish. Language never stands between your family and clear answers. We are licensed attorneys admitted to The Florida Bar. We focus on catastrophic and life-changing injuries.

Did your burn come with other harm? We also handle amputation injuries, spinal cord injuries, and broader catastrophic injury claims. You can also visit our main severe burn injuries resource hub.

Talk to a Florida burn injury lawyer — free case evaluation

You can speak with a Florida burn injury lawyer at no cost and with no pressure. A free case evaluation is private, with no duty to move forward.

When you reach out, it helps to share a few basics. Tell us how and where the burn happened. Tell us about the medical care so far. Share any reports or photos you have. Don’t have everything? That’s fine. We can help you find what’s missing.

We know this is one of the hardest times of your life. Our job is to listen, answer honestly, and explain what comes next. When you’re ready, contact us.

Frequently asked questions