Fire Lawsuit Loans

The Basics of Fire Lawsuits

A fire-related lawsuit encompasses a wide range of legal claims, such as personal injury, property damage, negligence, and wrongful death. Fires can result from numerous scenarios, including faulty wiring, defective products, arson, or general negligence. The aftermath often leads to significant property damage, severe physical injuries, or even tragic loss of life.

If you’re a victim of a fire incident, you may be entitled to compensation to recover your losses. This is where fire-related lawsuits come into play, offering economic relief for victims.

The legal process involved in these lawsuits can be quite complex, requiring extensive understanding and professional help to navigate successfully. By filing a lawsuit, you can seek damages (compensation) for medical expenses, lost wages, emotional distress, and property repair or replacement.

In most instances, these cases go through prolonged litigation, causing financial stress for victims. At this point, Uplift Legal Funding steps in, offering pre-settlement funding to help plaintiffs meet their financial needs as they await their settlements.

Burn Injuries

Burn injuries vary in severity and are generally caused by radiant heat from a fire, flames touching the body, clothing catching fire, or smoke inhalation (breathing in hot, chemical-filled smoke).

Depending on the extent of the burn, medical costs can become quite hefty and treatment extensive. Here is a breakdown of burn injury classifications:

• Second-degree – Deep second-degree burns result in damaged skin. It usually takes the victim weeks or months to heal. Even after healing, second-degree burns often result in permanent scars.
• Third-degree – Third-degree burns involve not only the skin but also the subcutaneous tissue (the tissue under the skin). Victims suffer catastrophic skin loss and subcutaneous tissue damage. In some cases, the victim can suffer internal bleeding or swelling of tissues (compartment syndrome), which is life-threatening.
• Fourth-, Fifth-, and Sixth-degree – These burns cause damage to the epidermal, dermal, and subcutaneous layers, as well as the muscle and bone. Victims suffer skin loss and severe muscle and/or bone damage. In every instance of these types of burns, surgery and long-term therapy are required.

Complications from burns may also arise, sometimes leading to death. These include infections, fluid loss, and over-resuscitation.

Although burns occur, smoke inhalation is the most common fire injury. In fact, most fire deaths are caused by smoke. When smoke is inhaled, chemicals work quickly to cause respiratory failure and oxygen deprivation, leading to brain damage, cardiac dysfunction, and sometimes even death.

Who is at fault?

Workplace Fire

• Workplace fires account for 20 to 30 percent of all burn injury hospitalizations in the country. Under premises liability, an employer is legally obligated to provide workers with a reasonably safe environment. Negligence means that the employer breached its duty of care by failing to provide a safe work environment for its employees. When this negligence results in an employee’s injury or fatality, a lawsuit can be filed.

Home Fire

• As with workplace fires, apartment owners are responsible for maintaining a safe environment. Fires due to negligence can present a strong case for the plaintiff. It is also worth noting that if your injury was the result of a malfunctioning device, you may also have a case against the manufacturer, distributor, and retailer of the product.
• If you are a homeowner, your insurance should cover house fires. If you are renting, the landlord could be held liable. If a product (such as a mattress or couch) causes a fire, the manufacturer could be held liable.

Other Building Owners

• Other property owners can also be held liable in the event of a fire. For example, in 2016, a fire erupted at the Ghost Ship, an Oakland warehouse used as a music venue. It turned out to be the deadliest fire in Oakland’s history, killing 36 people. Further investigation led officers to uncover emails from 2014 that reported serious electrical problems in the warehouse. As a result, two Ghost Ship proprietors were arrested and charged in connection with the fire.

Burden of Proof

Evidence is essential to building a strong case. The more solid the evidence, the greater the potential for a higher settlement and lawsuit loan eligibility. In a fire lawsuit, the first step is to determine what caused the flames.

Your attorney will usually seek the help of an expert to determine the following:

• Burn and char patterns
• Degree of material decomposition

This investigation will usually lead to an “area of origin” (the area of significant decomposition) and finally the “point of origin” (which tells us where the fire first started).

Other essential evidence for a fire lawsuit includes:

• Surveillance footage – If applicable, this is essential but may be hard to obtain. Be sure to follow up with the owner to get the footage that shows the incident.
• Photos and videos – As soon as possible after the incident, be sure to obtain photos and videos. These will serve as solid proof of the hazard and injury.
• Witness statements – Promptly try to get written statements from any witnesses present, documenting that the hazardous condition or negligence led to your accident. Get their signatures on these statements as well.
• Expert statements – For fire cases, experts are usually from the fields of engineering, accident reconstruction, and medicine. They are crucial to determining the cause of the fire, the amount of pain and suffering, and the estimated future medical expenses.

Higher Settlements and Lawsuit Loans

The more valuable a case, the higher the chance of a larger settlement for the plaintiff. In these cases, the plaintiff has most likely endured significant injury and loss of quality of life, amounting to higher damages. The compensation won from a fire lawsuit covers the plaintiff’s past and future medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

Unfortunately, the plaintiff is often left with the financial burden until a settlement arrives. To make a stressful situation even worse, fire lawsuits can be quite lengthy. Lawyers must obtain adequate witness statements, retain experts, conduct research, and provide valid proof of negligence. Often, the defendant will purposefully draw out a case, which pressures the plaintiff to settle for a lower amount.

Fire damage lawsuit loans can help. To qualify for legal funding and cash advances, make sure you have the following documentation:

• Medical records that show your injuries and any surgeries you have had
• Information and statements that prove you were not at fault for the fire—refer to the section above for examples of valuable evidence
• Confirmation of insurance information
• Court documents

Uplift Legal Funding

If you are the victim of a fire or are pursuing any other premises liability claim, Uplift Legal Funding can help. Let us cover your medical costs, lost wages, and other living expenses so your attorney can work toward a higher settlement. Best of all, if you do not win the case, you do not owe us anything! Apply online or give us a call at (800) 385-3660.