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The Burn Injury Lawyers at The Ammons Law Firm Have Filed Lawsuits Against Manufacturers, Property Owners, and Companies Following Serious Burn Injuries
At the Ammons Law Firm, our burn injury attorneys have handled lawsuits involving explosions, defective products, pipeline incidents, and vehicle collisions that resulted in serious burn injuries. Below is a selection of cases we have recently filed.
- Graco, Inc. and The Sherwin-Williams Company – Lawsuit involving an explosion that allegedly occurred when lacquer ignited during spraying operations, resulting in severe third-degree burn injuries to two workers.
- 3B Dozer Service, LLC – Semi-truck collision lawsuit involving a vehicle that allegedly caught fire, resulting in second-degree burn injuries.
- Victory Packaging, Inc. and Victory Packaging, L.P. – Truck crash lawsuit involving an explosion following a collision that allegedly caused significant burn injuries.
- Sam’s Club and Member’s Mark Grills – Propane grill explosion lawsuit involving a man who sustained serious burn injuries after propane allegedly ignited.
- Enerfin Resources Company, Wichita Tank Mfg., Inc., and Sonny’s Tank Trucks, Inc. – Pipeline explosion lawsuit involving a worker who allegedly suffered extensive burn injuries during routine operations.
- Amazon – Product liability lawsuit involving an allegedly exploding tabletop fire pit that caused severe burn injuries to a child.
- Amazon.com, Inc. and Amazon.com Services LLC – Product defect lawsuit involving an allegedly defective tabletop fire pit that caused catastrophic burn injuries.
- Spicy DaugX Operators Louisiana, LLC – Natural gas pipeline explosion lawsuit involving severe burn injuries sustained during pipeline operations.
- Advantage Home Buyers and EW Premier Properties, LLC – Lawsuit involving an apartment explosion that allegedly caused serious burn injuries to a resident.
- E-Cigarette Battery Explosion Lawsuit – Product liability lawsuit involving an e-cigarette battery explosion that allegedly caused second and third-degree burn injuries to a consumer.
What Are the Different Degrees of Burn Injuries?
Not every burn is serious. If you brush against a hot pan or spill warm coffee on your hand, you can usually take care of it at home. A severe burn is different. It can put your life at risk, and the difference comes down to how deep the burn goes.
Doctors group burns into three degrees:
- First-degree burns are the mildest type of burn injury. They only hurt the top layer of skin and usually just turn it red, like a sunburn. Some ointment and ibuprofen will take care of most of them.
- Second-degree burns go deeper. The skin turns red and blisters, and it hurts a lot more. Depending on how big the burn is and where it is, you may need to see a doctor.
- Third-degree burns are the worst. They go through both layers of skin and can damage what's underneath. The skin may look charred, waxy white, or even black. This is an emergency. Treatment often means skin grafts and antibiotics through an IV.
The degree only tells part of the story. How much of your body got burned matters just as much. A burn that covers a lot of skin can land you in the hospital even if the burn itself isn't that deep.
What Causes the Most Serious Burn Injuries After an Accident?
Burn injuries are far more common than most people realize. The CDC recorded 398,000 fire and burn injuries in a single recent year, plus another 252,000 from contact with hot objects, according to the American Burn Association. Among patients admitted to burn centers, flash and flame injuries cause about 42% of burns, and scalding causes another 32%. Most patients survive. The survival rate at burn centers is 97.7%. But surviving is only the beginning, because treatment for a serious burn can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. About two-thirds of burn center patients are men, and the median age is 40.
Burns come from more sources than people expect, including chemicals, electricity, and even too much sun. But thermal burns, the kind caused by fire, hot liquids, or hot surfaces, are by far the most common.
At home, the kitchen is where most burns happen. Hot oil splatters. A pot of boiling water tips over. A grease fire flares up faster than anyone expects. Cooking accidents are the leading cause of burn injuries in the home, and most of them happen in a split second.
House fires are another major cause. Many start with a faulty space heater or an electrical problem inside the walls.
A lot of serious burns happen on the job too. Workplace burn cases often involve industrial equipment or welding work, where workers are around heated machinery all day. Restaurant and food service workers face a higher risk than most because they spend every shift next to hot surfaces and steam.
Chemical and Electrical Burn Injuries
Chemical burns happen when a harsh chemical gets on your skin and eats through it. Strong acids can do it. So can industrial cleaners and plenty of other products people work with every day. Most of these injuries happen on the job, often because workers were handling dangerous chemicals without the right protective gear. Factories and labs carry some of the highest risk, but it can happen anywhere chemicals are used at work.
Electrical burns hurt you from the inside out. When electrical current passes through the body, it meets resistance in your tissue, and that resistance creates the heat that burns you. That's why these injuries fool people. The mark on the skin may be small while the damage underneath is severe, so an electrical burn should always be checked by a doctor, even if it looks minor. Electrical burns also happen in aviation accidents, where high-voltage aircraft systems put maintenance and ground crews at risk.
Burn Injuries From Car Accident Fires
Most car fires after a crash start in one of a few ways. A fuel tank ruptures. The electrical system shorts out. In newer vehicles, a damaged battery can overheat and ignite. Survivors often suffer severe burns, and breathing in the smoke can damage their lungs for years afterward. The most devastating cases are the ones where someone couldn't get out in time because a seat belt jammed or a door wouldn't open.
Who's responsible depends on how the fire started, and that takes investigation. Did the safety systems work the way they were supposed to? Was there a defect that started the fire or trapped someone inside? Answering those questions means digging into the vehicle's design, the crash data, and what witnesses saw. If you or a family member were hurt in a fire after a car accident, an attorney can help you find those answers and understand your options.
Burn Injuries From Truck Accident Fires
Trucks carry far more fuel than cars, and many haul cargo that's flammable on its own. That's what makes a fire after a truck crash so dangerous. When a tank ruptures or cargo ignites, the fire can spread across several vehicles in seconds, and the people in the smaller cars usually take the worst of it. Many survivors are left with deep burns and scars that never fully heal.
Responsibility in these cases often goes beyond the driver. Was the truck maintained properly? Did the trucking company cut corners on safety? Was there a defect in the truck or its equipment? Depending on the answers, the trucking company, the manufacturer, or another business entirely may be on the hook. Proving a truck fire case means tracing exactly how the fire started and spread, and that usually takes fire investigators and engineers working through the wreckage and the crash data.
Burns From Motorcycle Accidents
A rider has nothing between their body and the fire. No frame, no doors, no barrier at all. That's why motorcyclists can suffer devastating burns even in low-speed crashes. Leaking fuel can ignite on contact with hot engine parts, and a rider sliding across the pavement can end up in it. The worst situations involve a rider pinned under another vehicle, because riding gear can only hold off heat and flame for so long.
Burns from a motorcycle crash often come with other serious harm, like scarring and lung damage from breathing smoke. Sorting out responsibility means looking at two things: what caused the crash, and what made the injuries worse than they should have been. A defective part, a road hazard, or another driver's mistake can all play a role, and each one points to a different party who may owe you compensation.
When a Defective Product Causes the Burn Injury
Sometimes the cause of a burn isn't obvious. There was no crash, no house fire, no chemical spill. A product simply failed while someone was using it the way it was meant to be used. Most of these cases fall into three groups: lithium-ion battery failures, household products that overheat or malfunction, and products that burn fuel or involve an open flame. In many of these cases, the injured person may have a product liability claim against the manufacturer, distributor, or seller of the defective product.
Burn Injuries From Lithium-Ion Battery Fires and Explosions
Lithium-ion batteries power much of what people carry and ride every day: e-cigarettes, e-bikes, scooters, hoverboards, power banks, and battery-powered tools and lawn equipment. When one of these batteries fails, it can rupture, ignite, or explode without warning, and the fire starts fast and spreads faster.
E-cigarettes and vapes. Battery failures often happen while the device is charging or sitting in someone's pocket, and the burns usually hit the hands, the legs, or the face. Federal agencies have documented a significant number of emergency room visits tied to these failures in recent years. The Ammons Law Firm represented a Houston man who suffered second- and third-degree burns after an e-cigarette battery exploded in his pocket. The firm filed a lawsuit against the company that manufactured the device, and our attorneys spoke with Fox 26 News about the case. You can watch that coverage here.
E-bikes, scooters, and hoverboards. These devices run on large battery packs, and a pack that was poorly designed or poorly built can fail. Lithium-ion battery fires involving e-bikes, scooters, and hoverboards have received growing attention as the use of these devices has increased across the United States.
Power banks and battery-powered tools. Portable chargers can fail internally and catch fire whether they're charging or in use, and battery-powered tools like chainsaws and lawn equipment can overheat and burn you when something fails inside during use.
Burn Injuries From Defective Household Appliances and Heated Products
Some burn injuries happen when an everyday household product overheats, malfunctions, or fails during ordinary use. These cases often come down to defective wiring, faulty temperature controls, or a pressure system that didn't hold.
Pressure cookers. Pressure cookers have been the subject of major recalls over defective lids and pressure systems. The danger is a lid that opens while the pot is still pressurized. When that happens, superheated food and liquid blast outward. Reports include second- and third-degree burns to the face and upper body.
Ovens, cooktops, and air fryers. A heating element or a wire inside malfunctions, and the appliance overheats or ignites with no warning. Certain air fryer models have been recalled in the United States after reports of overheating and melting parts. These failures can happen while the appliance is running or right after you turn it on, and the risk isn't just a burn. They can set the kitchen on fire.
Electric blankets and heated products. These have been recalled over faulty wiring and bad temperature controls. A defect like that means the product can overheat while it's pressed directly against your skin.
Extension cords and power strips. Defective cords can overheat or short out, throwing sparks or causing electrical burns. The risk is worse when safety features are left out or are cheaply made.
Burn Injuries From Fire Pits, Fireworks, and Other Open-Flame Products
Some products burn fuel by design. When they're defectively made or sold without adequate warnings, the results can be catastrophic.
Tabletop fire pits. The danger with alcohol-fueled tabletop fire pits is that the flame can be nearly invisible. You look at the unit, and it appears to be out. But if any flame is still burning when you pour in more fuel, the alcohol can ignite instantly and shoot back out as a jet of fire. Severe burns happen in seconds.
The Ammons Law Firm filed a lawsuit involving an allegedly defective tabletop fire pit sold through an online marketplace. According to the complaint, a woman was refueling the unit while a flame was still present. When the alcohol hit that flame, it jetted back at her, causing catastrophic burns and setting her house on fire. She spent an extended time in a coma. Her family brought claims for the harm those injuries caused.
If something like this happened to you or someone you love, a fire pit burn injury lawyer can help you find out whether you have a case.
Fireworks. Defective fireworks can misfire or go off early, and when they do, burns are the most common injury.
Whether the burn was caused by a defective battery, a malfunctioning appliance, or a dangerous fire-related product, identifying the cause of the failure is often the first step in determining who may be legally responsible for the injury.
How a Defective Product Burn Injury Case Actually Works
When a product causes a burn, the legal question changes. It's no longer about what a driver or a property owner did. It's about the product itself: how it was designed, how it was made, and whether the warnings told you about the risk. A product that fails during normal use may give you a claim under product liability law. A product liability attorney can dig into how the product was designed and sold and find out whether a defect caused your injury.
The Ammons Law Firm handles cases involving a wide range of defective products. Contact us to talk about what happened to you.
Were you seriously burned because of someone else's fault? Call our injury lawyers at 281-801-5617 today for a free consultation.
