Category : Explosions and Fires

Are Accidental Fires Really an “Accident”?

Do the words that fire departments use when they describe a fire diminish the fact that fires are almost entirely preventable?  Are accidental fires really just an “accident”?  There are questions being posed by Fire Engineering, a website dedicated to firefighting and fire prevention education.  Some of the sentiments expressed in the article will be very interesting to California fire and explosion lawyers.

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Los Angeles Gas Line Explosion Kills One

A massive gas line explosion in Los Angeles last week killed one person and injured another.  The explosion took place in a south Los Angeles building which housed a welding business.

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Tips for Fourth of July Fireworks Accidents Safety

Fourth of July is supposed to be a time of celebrating our country’s independence, however it is also a time when we are at a higher risk of burn injuries. Every year, Fourth of July has the highest number of burn injuries of any day. These injuries may be caused by fireworks accidents and grill fires.

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One Dead in Truckee Gas Explosion

At least one person has been confirmed dead in an explosion in an apartment complex in Truckee in Nevada County on Tuesday.

According to news reports, a 27-year-old woman has been killed in the explosion and her husband and their three children, aged 12, 7 and 10 years old, sustained injuries in the explosion. The woman died from her injures on Tuesday night. The three children suffered burns, and received treatment in the hospital, but have been discharged. The children’s father sustained serious burn injuries, and had to be airlifted to a hospital. He is reported to be in a critical condition.

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$29 Million Wrongful Death Award in Kings County Fire

The families of five people who were killed in a fire that broke out at the Northgate County Apartments in July of last year have been awarded a total settlement of $29 million, said to be one of the largest wrongful death verdicts in Kings County history according to a Bakersfield wrongful death lawyer. The five, a teenage couple and their two-month-old daughter and two more kids, perished in the blaze that gutted a total of nine apartments as it quickly spread from building to building.

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Family of Fire Victims Receive $21 Million Settlement

There was nothing on the eve of July 10, 2006 that could have prepared the Higdon family for what was to come the next day. Patrick and Margaret Higdon, along with their twin boys, James and Patrick, and daughter Megan, Margaret’s siblings and her parents, were holidaying at a vacation rental at Cedar Grove Resort about 200 miles north of Milwaukee. They had gone to bed after the usual vacation day – lazing around, eating at the restaurant nearby and playing cards.

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Foam Companies Offer $30 Million Settlement in Nightclub Fire Deaths

A number of foam companies that were blamed in the Providence nightclub fire that killed 100 people in 2003 have agreed to pay a total of $30 million to settle lawsuits that were brought by survivors of the fire. This brings the total amount of settlement amount offered to survivors and family members of the accident up to $100 million, including settlements offered by Home Depot, and some fireworks companies.

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Settlements Reached in Cook County Building Fire

A series of settlements have been announced in the Cook County Administration Building fire of 2003, which killed six people. Victims will now receive $25.3 million, of which Cook County will pay $9 million.

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Los Angeles Explosion Kills Firefighter

A tragic explosion in an office building in a Westchester business district had one casualty on Wednesday afternoon. There won’t be a huge media coverage of the incident, no politicians dropping sound bytes. Every time a firefighter or other service personnel dies in the line of duty we need to remind ourselves that these are people who risk their lives and put their safety on the line, so we can be safe.

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Chemical Fire Injures 12 Firefighters

A chemical fire that raged on Sunday afternoon on Claudina Way in Anaheim, California, left large amounts of chemical residue on the streets. Businesses have been closed while a private contracting company attempts to clean up the residue.

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