Fort Wayne
Fire Burn Injury
ATTORNEY

DELVENTHAL LAW

BURN INJURY LAWYER SERVING CLIENTS IN FORT WAYNE, INDIANA

Burn injuries can happen in many different places and in numerous types of accidents, from auto crashes caused by another driver’s negligence to home fires resulting from defective electrical wiring. When a person sustains debilitating burn injuries, it can be difficult and sometimes even impossible to return to life before the accident. In addition to requiring extensive and costly medical treatment, many burn injury victims cannot work to pay their bills.

By filing a burn injury claim, you can seek the financial compensation you deserve. An experienced Fort Wayne burn injury attorney can speak with you today about your options.

GETTING THE FACTS ABOUT BURN INJURIES

Burn injuries can be debilitating and life-threatening. We have collated some key facts from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Burn Association:

• Each year on average, one person dies in a fire every two hours and one person suffers burn injuries every 23 minutes;
• In 2016, 486,000 burn injuries required medical treatment, and some of those burns were so severe that they required hospitalization and treatment at a burn center;
• 40,000 people who sustained severe burn injuries in 2016 were hospitalized, and 30,000 suffered burns so severe that they were transferred to hospital burn centers;
• Many burn injuries coincide with fires, most often residential fires and automobile crash fires;
• About 2,745 people die each year from residential fires, while about 310 sustain fatal injuries in vehicle crash fires;
• Nearly 70 percent of admissions to burn centers are male patients, while just over 30 percent of admissions to burn centers are female patients;
• 43 percent of burn center admissions result from severe burn injuries caused by fire, while about 34 percent result from scald accidents; and
• Nearly three-quarters of all severe burn injuries occur in the home, while about 8 percent are occupational, 5 percent occur on the road or highway (in auto accident fires), and about 5 percent occur in recreational settings.

FORT WAYNE BURN INJURY STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS

If you were harmed by a burn injury, how long do you have to file a claim for compensation? The statute of limitations for most personal injury lawsuits is two years under Ind. Code. § 34-11-2-4. For example, if you suffered serious burn injuries in a car crash, or in a train accident, you would have two years from the date of the accident in which you were injured to file a claim for compensation.

It is important to understand, however, that burn injuries can also result from different types of accidents and different forms of liability. While the statute of limitations may be two years regardless of the type of claim, plaintiffs should know that they may need to be aware of a distinct statute of limitations for the specific cause of injury. For example, if a burn injury results from medical negligence, the patient still has two years from the date of her injury to file a claim, but a separate statute governs that time window (Ind. Code. § 34-18-7-1). Similarly, if your burn injury happened because of a product defect, you would need to abide by the two-year statute of limitations for product liability lawsuits governed by Ind. Code. § 34-20-3-1.

Failing to file a lawsuit within the time window set by the statute of limitations can mean that your claim will be barred. While two years can seem like a lengthy amount of time for filing a claim, it is important to get started as soon as you can by working with a Fort Wayne burn injury attorney.

CONTACT A BURN INJURY ATTORNEY IN FORT WAYNE ABOUT YOUR CASE

Did you sustain a burn injury in an accident? An experienced Fort Wayne burn injury attorney can assist with your case. Contact Delventhal Law Office LLC for more information about how we serve clients in personal injury lawsuits in Indiana.