Sustaining a burn injury, no matter how minor or severe, is a very painful experience and very often results in permanent scarring. Typically, open flame injuries around the home are relatively minor, but they do have the potential to cause higher-degree burns if the victim is unable to quickly escape the flame. Open-flame burn injuries can occur as a result of someone’s negligence or a defective product.
If your child has suffered from an open flame injury due to a defective product or someone’s negligence, you may be entitled to compensation from those responsible. Contact child flame burn injury attorney Jeff Killino at 877-875-2927 to learn more about your legal options.
Types of Flame Burns
Several types of flame burns commonly occur in a child’s or another’s home. Parents should familiarize themselves with the hazards posed by common sources of flame-burn injuries in order to better protect their children from injury. Flame-burn injuries are often caused by the following:
- Lighters and matches
- Fireplaces
- Candles
- House fires
- Gas-flame stoves
- Electrical appliances that catch on fire
Product or construction defects may constitute a cause of flame-burn injuries sustained by a child. A faulty fireplace shield or grate, for example, can result in burn injuries that might have been prevented by an adequate shield or grate. Defective lighters also have the potential to cause burns to the user when too large a flame is produced. House fires, caused by malfunctioning home products or even an act of arson pose a much greater threat to the inhabitants. These flames have the potential to claim lives.
How to Protect Yourself against Flame Burns
Children can be shielded from the dangers of flame-burn injuries in several ways. Children should be kept well away from any sort of open flame source, such as a lighter or book of matches. Parents should never leave burning candles in a room in which a child has been left alone and should never leave the flames of gas-burning stoves unattended. All homeowners or renters should install smoke detectors inside living quarters and make sure they are kept in working order so that they may be alerted to the existence of any fires that may put them and their children in danger.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) advises parents to always keep children away from fireplaces or heated grills and to place lids over pans whose contents have caught fire. Such pans should then be removed from a child’s reach and allowed to cool before the lid is removed.
Legal Liability for Children’s Flame Burn Injuries
Children often suffer flame-burn injuries as a result of someone’s negligence or a defective product.
Defective Products
If a defect in a product is found to have been a cause of a child’s flame-burn injury, the manufacturer of the product and anyone in the chain of the product’s distribution may be found liable for the injuries suffered by the child in a product-liability action.
A defect in the manufacture or design of a fireplace grate or shield, for example, may be found to have been a cause of a child’s flame-burn injury that might have been prevented or lessened in severity by the presence of a non-defective shield or grate. The injuries sustained by a child as a result of such a defect may result from contact with flames in the fireplace itself or from a house fire that is caused by the defect in the product. This may occur, for example, when sparks emitted from a fireplace inadequately protected by a defective shield cause a rug or carpet near the fireplace to catch fire. In either case, the manufacturer of the defective shield or grate and anyone in the chain of the product’s distribution may be held liable in a product-liability action for the flame-burn injuries suffered by the child as a result of the defect.
Negligence
The negligence of an adult may be found to constitute the cause of a child’s flame-burn injuries under any of a number of circumstances. If an adult has undertaken the responsibility of watching over a child and allows the child to get near an open flame on a gas stove or outdoor grill, for example, the adult may be found liable for the burn injuries sustained by the child in an action for negligence.
House fires caused by the negligence of an adult may also lead to a finding of liability for a child’s flame-burn injuries sustained in the fire on the part of the adult whose negligence was a cause of the fire. Such a situation may arise, for instance, when an adult has agreed to watch over or baby-sit a child or when a child is present as a guest in the adult’s home.
Contact Us
If your child has suffered a flame burn injury from a defective product or as a result of someone’s negligence, contact child flame burn injury lawyer Jeff Killino at 877-875-2927 for experienced and dedicated assistance with your case.
