Grand Junction Burn Injuries Attorney

Whether from something mundane such as ironing a shirt, or something as truly devastating as an electrical fire which burns much of the house, burn injuries can be among the most painful injuries a person can suffer. The pain that a burn injury causes can affect you for the rest of your life, given that serious burns have significantly high rates of skin and ligament damage. Killian, Davis, Richter & Kraniak, PC combines 30 years of experience to be the Colorado burn injury attorney you need.

MOST COMMON CAUSES OF BURN INJURY

While domestic and construction fires are the most common causes of burn injuries, things such as boiling water, hot metal, radiation from x-rays and the sun can burn badly enough to cause permanent damage. Burn injuries fall into four major categories.

• Thermal, which includes scalds, explosion (of flash) burns, contact with hot materials, and direct flames. This can also include inhalation burns.
• Electrical, which are caused by AC or DC current and can cause serious internal burn injury. Chemical burns, caused by acids or alkali substances.
• Radiological, caused by any type of radiation.

Fires caused 43 percent of burn injuries; scalding 34 percent, and touch nine percent. A whopping 73 percent of all the burn injuries took place inside the home. So the culprit of many burn injuries can be largely prevented with care and attention.

CLASSIFICATION OF BURN INJURIES

There are four major classifications of burn injury, first, second, third and fourth degree.

• First degree burns typically result in redness but do not blister the skin. Second degree burns cause skin to blister and thicken some.
• Second degree burns are the most painful, as any more serious burns kill nerves that dull the pain.
• Third degree burns often result in widespread thickening of skin and destroys all layers of the skin. These burns can appear black or white and will be leathery in texture.
• Fourth degree burns extend through the skin and into muscle and bone.

COLORADO BURN INJURY STATISTICS

In 2015, there were 365,500 home fires across the country, resulting in 2,650 fatalities, more than 11,000 injuries and $7 billion worth of damage. In Colorado, structure fires in residential and non-residential buildings accounted for 77 percent of fire fatalities, and 83 percent of injuries. So far in 2016, 486,000 people have required treatment for their burn injuries, 30,000 of those were bad enough to necessitate hospitalization in a burn center.

Outside of structure fires, cars that caught fire caused a significant amount of burn injuries as well. There were 174,000 vehicle highway fires in 2015, 49 percent of which were caused by a mechanical failure or malfunction. However, 58 percent of the fatalities were due to a vehicle catching fire because of a collision or overturning.

BURN INJURY LAWSUIT

If your burn injuries were the result of someone else’s negligence, you have the right to file a claim for compensation. This can happen from another driver hitting your car, causing it to catch fire. If you’re a server, and you slip carrying a pot of boiling water, this could be grounds for filing a claim against your employer. The same goes for working in construction or a related field, and you suffer burns from prolonged exposure to heat. The employer has a duty to ensure their employee’s safety.

Given how dry the air in Grand Junction and Colorado in general is, the risk of a fire in this state is high. If you sustain a burn injury from a fire, explosion or even a chemical spill, the burn injury lawyers at Killian, Davis, Richter & Kraniak, PC can assess what you should be owed for personal injury and property damage that a fire or spill may have caused. We offer free consultation, and we do not collect attorney’s fees unless we win your case. Our dedicated team will make sure that you are compensated fairly.