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Between 1 million and 2 million Americans need medical attention for burn injuries every year, and 4,500 Americans will die from burn trauma this year. Two Americans die of a burn-related injury every three hours.
The California burn injury specialists and wrongful death attorneys at Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger have represented the survivors of parents, spouses, children and domestic partners killed in accidental apartment and house fires, commercial fires, industrial explosions and work-related tragedies.
Need A Wrongful Death Lawyer In California?
If you have suffered the loss of a loved one from a fire or explosion in California, Walkup Melodia can help you. To arrange a free consultation to discuss your case, call us at (415) 981-7210 or contact the Walkup firm online.
Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger handles wrongful death cases throughout the Bay Area, including San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland and Concord.
Defective or nonoperational smoke alarms or carbon monoxide detectors can turn a survivable fire into a fatal event. In industrial settings, hot or molten liquids often cause deadly burns.
In homes, frayed or defective electrical wiring; defective electrical appliances, water heaters or floor or wall furnaces; and natural gas leaks may cause fires or explosions that take the lives of occupants. Burns can lead to infections that may ultimately prove fatal even with optimal treatment.
Other fatal complications that may result from burns include dehydration and anesthetic complications during skin grafting or debridement.
Extensive Experience Handling Fatal Burn Injury Cases
If a member of your family has sustained a fatal burn injury, regardless of how the injury occurred, call the professional California burn injury wrongful death attorneys at Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger. We have handled fatal injury cases for more than 50 years.
Our experience is extensive and we have the resources and the skill to make certain that those who are left behind are cared for and properly compensated. Call our firm at (415) 981-7210 or send us an email to arrange your free consultation.
Examples of burn injury cases we have handled include:
Propane Explosion – $52 Million Jury Verdict
Walkup’s fire and explosion wrongful death litigators proved that a fire and explosion were the result of a liquid petroleum gas leak when a father attempted to light a furnace that had gone out during the night. The subsequent fireball entrapped all four victims and completely destroyed the 8- by 30-foot travel trailer the family was using as a residence. After three difficult years of litigation, the case proceeded to trial, where the jury returned a unanimous verdict awarding survivors a total of $52,135,000.
Residential Fire – $2.5 Million Settlement
Our premises liability team represented the mother and father of a 23-year-old college student who needlessly and tragically died when the rented apartment in which he slept, owned by a Bay Area landlord, burned because the landlord negligently left a sofa over a floor furnace and failed to equip the home with functioning smoke detectors. Our attorneys proved that the landlord, who owned more than 60 properties, had failed to make required and proper inspections and to make certain that smoke detectors were working. After the fire, our attorneys, through investigators, demonstrated that not a single operational smoke detector was present on the second floor of the dwelling where our clients’ son perished. The settlement, in the amount of $2.5 million, was paid by the insurance company for the property owner.
Apartment Fire – $1.5 Million Settlement
Walkup’s fire team represented the parents of a young man who died of smoke inhalation as a result of an apartment fire. A co-tenant in his building improperly disposed of hot ashes in the community trash bin. The resulting fire caused smoke to billow into his apartment as he slept. The landlord had failed to make sure the apartment’s smoke detectors had fresh batteries. The damage caused to the young man’s lungs from the smoke ultimately caused his death.