California Personal Injury Lawyers Blog
According to Santa Barbara new outlet The Noozhawk, a local man suffered serious burns when his Jeep Cherokee caught on fire. Bystanders who witnessed the fire rushed to help the man. One witness reported that “he saw the guy was screaming, yelling for help, crying. His whole body was on fire.” Bystanders helped him get out of the car and get his shirt off and called emergency personnel.
When firefighters arrived at the scene, the car was completely engulfed in flames and the fire had spread to a building next to where the car was parked. A team went to work extinguishing the fire, while other firefighters assisted in aiding the burned man. Police reported that the burn victim had moderate to severe burn injuries on his upper torso, arms, hands and face. He was taken to the hospital, and then transferred to a burn center in Southern California for treatment of these injuries. Investigators are now looking into what caused the fire in the first place—as of now, it appears the blaze started in the back of the vehicle.
The Severity of Burn Injuries
Burn injuries can be extremely serious. Burns require proper medical attention and often require significant time to heal. The healing process lengthens when the burn is more severe. Burns are classified into three groups based on severity—first, second, and third-degree burns.
- First-degree burns: A first-degree burn is also called a “superficial burn” because it only affects the outer layer of the skin. The burned area can still be painful and red, but there are no blisters and generally no long-term damage to the skin.
- Second-degree burns: Second-degree burns are more severe as they burn the top two layers of skin. With a second-degree burn you can have swelling and blistering that can be very painful. Second-degree burns often require medical treatment.
- Third-degree burns: A third-degree burn is the most severe category of burns. Burns classed as third-degree damage the skin layers, and may even burn to the point of damaging muscle, tendons, or bone. These burns are very serious and can require extensive medical care, including skin grafting. A third-degree burn can leave severe scarring.
Fire in a home or a car can lead to these types of serious burn injuries, and many times these fires are started due to no fault of the victim. In this case, if it is determined that the fire was somehow started by the intentional acts or negligent acts of another person or because of a faulty product in the vehicle, is possible for the victim to bring a personal injury claim against the responsible party. Investigating the details of what caused a fire can be difficult. Because of this, if you have been injured in a home or other type of fire, or suffered a burn injury at work or elsewhere, it can be extremely helpful to speak with an experienced burn injury attorney who can assist in the investigation.
Tragically, fires that ultimately cause burn injuries, happen every day. If you have suffered a burn injury, a skilled attorney can help determine if a personal injury claim is available and determine the proper party to bring the claim against, depending on who is at fault. The experienced attorneys at Walch Law are here to help you by doing what we can to help you get financial recovery as you focus on your physical recovery. For a free consultation on your case contact us online or by calling 866-465-8792.