Not all burn victims suffer their burn injuries in a home fire or a car accident. Instead, ordinary chemical products can sometimes catch on fire, leading to serious burns and months in the hospital.
This is what happened when asphalt sealer caught on fire and burned a man in Massachusetts recently. According to the media, a man was spraying sealant on his driveway when the hose ruptured. As he tried to turn the machine off, the liquid sealer caught on fire.
Authorities do not know what caused the conflagration. Admittedly, the sealer is sprayed at high temperatures, but that should not be enough to cause a fire (otherwise it would always catch on fire). The man suffered second degree burns on his arms and face and had to be taken to the hospital for treatment.
Second-degree burns are sufficient to leave a person with blisters and scars. Some victims also need skin grafts, a painful surgical procedure which can increase the cost of medical care substantially. Second-degree burns leave behind a residue of emotional distress which can be just as difficult to overcome as any physical injuries.
Were You Burned by a Defective Product?
Many products fail to work as expected, and sometimes they end up burning consumers. This is particularly true of products that run off electricity but have a problem with wiring or use batteries that are dangerous.
For example, lithium-ion batteries garnered a tremendous amount of attention a few years back for catching on fire. This caused Samsung to recall millions of Galaxy Note7 phones from the market. These batteries were also used in hoverboards and laptops, which also posed a fire risk. Some airlines, for example, forced people to remove their ion-lithium batteries so that they could be stored in a fireproof box for the duration of the flight.
Of course, the problems with these batteries were made worse by manufacturing defects. As Consumer Reports noted, a manufacturing defect contributed to the problems with the Samsung phones. Even if most of the products in a production line are safe, some error in manufacturing can render some of them dangerous to use.
Contact a Miami Burn Injury Lawyer
At Dolan Dobrinsky Rosenblum Bluestein, LLP, our team has represented burn injury victims for several decades. We fight for favorable settlements but are not afraid to go into court and bring a lawsuit, if necessary, to get the compensation our clients deserve.
When a product injures you, contact us today to schedule a free consultation at 305-371-2692.