Pocatello Burn Attorney

For over seventy years, your attorneys at Racine Olson in Pocatello have helped people injured by severe burns. Some of these burns have been caused by fire, others were the result of chemicals such as acid, and some have happened due to electricity. No matter the cause of the burn, they are always painful and often require intense medical care. The injured person may have to endure skin grafts, bandages, and months of care.

People who get these painful injuries come to Racine Olson for help. They know that we’ve been around for years and will be there when needed.

The first step when injured in a severe burn case is to make sure you get qualified medical care. These burns are difficult to heal and you need to get to a burn unit and a qualified hospital to make sure that you get adequate care.

After that, you need to contact an experienced Pocatello burn attorney at Racine Olson in Pocatello. They know how to address the complexities involved in this type of injury case. For instance, if you or someone you love is injured in a house or apartment fire, there are a couple of ways to show that the owner of the structure was negligent. Negligence is shown when a person establishes that the defendant did not act as a reasonable person did under the circumstances. Stephens v. Stearns, 106 Idaho 249, 678 P.2d 41 (1984). Another way that an injured person can show that the landowner was negligent is by using the fire codes or uniform building codes. Stevens v. Fleming, 116 Idaho 523, 525-526, 777 P.2d 1196, 1198-1199 (1989). The Idaho Supreme Court has stated:

When applicable, specific statutory provisions such as the Uniform Fire Code may prove useful in delineating minimum standards which are binding upon every owner of a rented premise. Such on point code provisions provide a ready measure of the base standard of care and failure to meet such standard may be negligence per se if the statutes or ordinances were designed to prevent the type of harm which occurred. Id.

In other words, if the builder of the structure violated a statute, they are automatically negligent. If the person failed to act a reasonable person would when it was built, then negligence can be established in that fashion.

Acid or Chemical Burns: Recently we have seen a rash of these types of injuries at the workplace. In one situation, an employee entered an improperly drained container and was burned on his face and arm. In another, the employee stepped into a retaining pond and was burned due to a contractor failing to warn about the acid.

Fire: Burns caused by fire often arise at home or in a building. This often ends up causing terrible injuries including death to the occupants. However, burns by fire can also occur as a result of car accidents or even exhaust pipes in vehicles.

Electrical Injuries: These types of injuries can be caused anywhere faulty electricity or wiring is present. This includes the outdoors. For instance, there are specific electrical codes that govern how high outside wiring must be and what is allowed in a given area. Given the danger that electricity poses, special standards also apply. Racine Olson has handled cases like this and we know where to look to determine who was responsible for these catastrophic injuries.

There are two main categories of damages that are available in a burn case. The first concerns actual expenses such as lost medical bills, lost wages, and lost future earnings. The other category contains such compensation as pain and suffering, disfigurement, and mental anguish.

It is important to have the right experts to help establish these damages to their fullest. Your attorneys at Racine Olson in Pocatello know how to find and retain these necessary people to maximize your case.

We have worked on these cases for years. We look forward to helping you solve a problem together. Give us a call. Problem solved.