With each season comes a different risk for fire. Winter weather increases the need for structure heating which increases the risk for fires associated with furnaces and heating. Springtime brings people outdoors, creating the peak period for outdoor fires. Finally, hot and dry summer weather creates conditions that lead to the peak period of natural fires. Fire can occur in one’s home, the work place, in skyscrapers even in one’s car, and the fire can be a result of no fault of the person who is injured. Those who manufactured a product or are in charge of fire safety procedures must exercise extreme caution knowing that what they do impact’s everyone’s safety and their lives.

Further compounding these seasonal trends are cultural and religious practices. Christmas trees, candle-lit pumpkins, fireworks, outdoor grilling and campfires all contribute to the shifting patterns in fire frequency. Certainly, fire is a known danger, necessitating handling it with caution. It is when someone is negligent that fire can become deadly.

According to the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), 2008 saw 1,451,500 fires in the United States. Of those, 35.5% were structure fires and 16.3% were vehicle fires. Unfortunately, 3,320 civilians died while 16,705 civilians were injured as a result of these fires. In that year, the USFA reports that fire killed more Americans than all natural disasters combined.

The Burn Injury Lawyers of Clifford Law Offices

Severe burns, scarring and smoke inhalation are among the most painful and long-term injuries a person can sustain. To protect your rights after a fire, choosing the right burn injury attorney becomes a critical decision. Determining responsibility when a fire causes serious injury or death takes an experienced burn injury lawyer. The burn injury attorneys at Clifford Law Offices look at all potential factors in their burn injury lawsuits including:

• Conformity with the relevant fire code
• Presence and condition of fire safety equipment or fire protection devices such as fire escape, fire doors, and smoke alarms
• Locked fire exits
• Condition of heating equipment including: central heating units, fixed or portable room-size heating units, fireplaces, chimneys, water heaters, space heaters (e.g., portable electric heaters, kerosene heaters, wood stoves, fireplaces with inserts, room gas heaters)

Some Clifford Law Offices Fire and Burn Injury Lawsuits

Robert A. Clifford & Kevin P. Durkin - $100,000,000: Six people killed and 16 others injured at the Cook County Administration Building in Chicago's downtown when firefighters failed to save people stuck in smoky high-rise stairwell; one of the highest personal injury settlements in Chicago's Cook County history

Robert A. Clifford, Kevin P. Durkin, Michael S. Krzak - $13,730,000 Settlement: 29-year-old worker burned at power plant fire in Indiana

Richard F. Burke, Jr. & Shannon M. McNulty - $900,000 Settlement: 24-year-old race car driver sustained serious burn injuries in a crash during an on-track amateur racing event that had insufficient equipment to promptly suppress the fire that erupted on impact