Burns, Explosions, & Electric Shocks

Welcome to the Rodgers Law Firm

The daily lives of accident victims and their family and friends are changed dramatically when someone is seriously injured in a fire, explosion, burn, or electric shock accident.

We at the Rodgers Law Firm in Fort Worth, Texas understand the pain and losses caused by this type of calamity. Surviving victims may have no transportation because they cannot see to drive, are unable to work due to injury, have no health insurance or large savings to pay for medical care, and do not have the energy or know how to deal with the insurance company for the trucking company.

That's why we are here – to do everything we can to help our clients get the answers, the assistance, and the compensation that they are entitled to under the law.

We handle fire, explosion, burn, and electric shock cases throughout the Metroplex, including Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Denton, Burleson, Cleburne, Decatur, Weatherford, Haltom City, North Richland Hills, Richland Hills, Azle, Mineral Wells, Sherman, and Denison.
If you or someone close to you have been injured by another person’s carelessness that caused serious burn, explosion, or electric shock injuries, contact us for a free, no obligation consultation.

We will meet with you at our office or any location convenient to you.
In a free, no obligation consultation with us you may evaluate our capabilities to help you and other family members work through the legal, economic and emotional hurdles faced when a serious injury is suffered in a fire, explosion, burn, or electric shock accident.
The following pages of detailed legal information will give you insights into the depth of our technical capabilities in these types of cases.

Examples of Actual Cases Handled By Our Law Firm

House Renter Burned In Natural Gas Leak and Fire
Utility Failed to Respond to Report of Gas Leak
Arlington, Texas
Our client rented a home in Arlington, Texas. His home was served by two utilities, a water company and a natural gas company. After he moved in, he became concerned by several months of high water bills. Both utilities owned easements in and near the street where the main water and gas lines had been laid underground.

He complained to the city water utility about the high bills, and they sent a crew to his home to test the water line for leaks. The water line tested ran from the street main water line to his water meter, located near the curb of the street in front of his house. The water meter was 90 feet away from his natural gas meter, which was located near his front door.

He was told that the tests showed the water line to his meter was not leaking and that any water leak between the meter and his house was the responsibility of the landlord, not the water utility. He was also told that he might have a slow water leak somewhere underneath the house that was also the responsibility of his landlord.

He decided he would read his water meter each morning before he left for work and each night when he got home from work to see what the daily water usage was when he was not at home. That night he tried to read his water meter, but the local street light was not bright enough. Not having a flashlight, he decided he would use his cigarette lighter to illuminate his water meter.

To his surprise and horror, as soon as he lit his cigarette lighter after holding it near the meter and bending over to read the meter, he was subjected to a natural gas fed ball of flame that engulfed his upper body, severely burning his face, head, and hands.

After suit was filed, the water utility workers that had tested the water line for leaks testified that they had informed the proper natural gas utility employees that there were indications of leaking natural gas detected while inspecting the water line for water leaks. The natural gas line was laid under the street near the water line. Despite this notice, the natural gas utility employees made no effort to locate the gas leak.

The water workers also testified that it was normal for leaking natural gas to follow the path of least resistance in the underground soil, and in this case the path of least resistance was to travel along the path of the main water line to the client’s water meter near the street because the soil was not compacted as much along the water line as it was in the rest of the street area where no digging had occurred. The case settled prior to trial. (G52R)

Worker Knocked Out of Cherry Picker by Electrified Overhead Crane
Electric Shock & Other Traumatic Injuries
Fort Worth, Texas

Our client was skilled in installing telephone cable and wiring. His employer was hired by a steel products company to install telephone cable between a warehouse and an outside building on the steel company’s premises. The work was to be performed during normal working hours while the steel company’s employees were also actively working on the premises and using an overhead crane to move very heavy steel products from an outside storage area to the inside of the warehouse.

The overhead crane was attached to and ran on a single metal rail (monorail) 1/16 of a mile in length and positioned 30 feet above ground. High voltage electricity was used to move the crane along the monorail, 440 volt, 3 phase, 60 amp current. The crane was started and stopped by a hand-held mobile remote control device controlled by steel company employee assigned to operate the crane.

The crane was constructed so that, once it was activated by the operator, it would automatically move along the full length of the monorail until the operator stopped it with the hand held remote control. The operator could easily, quickly and safely stop the crane at any location on the rail, inside or outside of the warehouse, by using the controls on the hand held remote.

The crane was of such a large size and weight that, with its moving speed and the laws of physics as applied to mass, speed and momentum, once in motion it would stay in motion even when when contacting any object with less mass, speed and momentum.

To install the cabling our client had to work in a basket attached to what is commonly termed a “cherry picker” at a height of 30 feet above ground and directly in the fixed rail path of the overhead crane.

Before our client entered the cherry picker basket to begin installing the cabling, he asked the operator of the crane to stop the crane’s movement during the wiring process. The operator told him that a “lock down” of the overhead crane would be done to prevent it from moving. Relying on this promise our client was hoisted in the air and began working on the wiring from within the basket of the cherry picker.

The operator failed to “lock down” the crane as promised. As our client was installing the telephone cable, the crane came from outside into the warehouse and began approaching the cherry picker. The noise inside the warehouse coming from the steel processing equipment was so loud that the employees inside the warehouse could not hear our client’s cries to stop the crane. The crane struck the cherry picker basket, causing the basket to tip over. Plaintiff, believing he would be spilled out of the basked and fall onto the concrete floor 30 feet below, jumped from the basket onto the crane to avoid falling; however, the electrical voltage supplying the crane with power shocked him and knocked him back into the cherry picker basket. In this process he sustained serious and permanent injuries, with medical bills totaling $45,000.

The case settled before trial. (R185L)

Fuel Truck Driver Injured by
Fuel Storage Tank High Pressure Explosion
Violation of OSHA Regulations
Ennis, Texas

Our client was employed as a fuel tank truck driver for a fuel company. He was scheduled to make a delivery of fuel to an asphalt plant that had a 5,000 gallon above-ground storage tank approximately 25 feet long that was used to supply fuel to the asphalt burner and to refuel plant trucks.

The storage tank was subject to OSHA regulations that required that the storage tank be equipped with a relief valve which directed all vapors to an incinerator, that the tank owner ensure that the storage tank was adequately vented to prevent development of pressure, as a result of the fuel filling process, from exceeding the design pressure of the tank, and that the tank owner take steps to prevent or minimize the consequences of catastrophic releases of explosive chemicals.

American Petroleum Institute (“API”) safety standards required pressure and vacuum-relieving devices be placed on the storage tank, and that the storage tank must be regularly inspected by an “authorized inspector,” one that holds an API certification as an inspector.

The owner of the asphalt plant ignored all of these regulations and safety standards for years. The client climbed on top of the storage tank and began the process of pumping 5,000 gallons of fuel into the storage tank through a fill pipe on top of the storage tank. Without his knowledge, pressure began building inside the storage tank while the fuel was being pumped inside it.

As he was nearing completion of the fuel delivery, suddenly and without warning the excess pressure that had built-up in the tank burst out of the fill pipe. The escaping high pressure air blast threw him up into the air and off the top of the storage tank, causing him to fall 10 to 12 feet to the ground at a place 12-15 feet away from the storage tank. The explosion severely injured his neck and back.

His injuries included herniated discs at C5-6, C6-7, L4-5, and L5-S1. The case settled before trial. (F275A)

Four Year Old Boy Burned by Scalding Soup
Delivered By Restaurant‘s Delivery Employee
Fort Worth, Texas

Our client, a four year old boy who was a pre-kindergarden student, loved wonton soup. A local chinese restaurant offered a free delivery service to homes in the neighborhood. On the evening of May 16 his parents phoned the restaurant and placed an order for the entire family for delivery, including wonton soup for the boy.

When the food was delivered, the mother removed the top of the styrofoam soup container and placed the soup in front of him on the dining room table. Unbeknownst to the family, the soup was exceedingly hot when poured into the styrofoam cup at the restaurant, so hot that between the time the soup was poured there and the time the lid was removed in the home, approximately 15 minutes later, the temperature had deformed the bottom of the cup so that it was unstable and more easily subject to being overturned. We know this because the parents had enough presence of mind to preserve the container the soup was delivered in.

She then left the room to take food to her husband, who was ill in bed in another room. While she was gone, our client accidentally brushed his arm against the soup container, knocking the soup into his lap. He began screaming in pain and the mother ran back into the room. She took him to the shower, undressed him and ran cold water on his lap area. He began losing skin in the burned area. She then wrapped him in a wet sheet and rushed him to the hospital.

Hospital personnel determined that he had sustained 2nd and 3rd degree burns to his genital area and thighs. His bandages had to be changed 3 times a day for six weeks, a process that was excruciatingly painful. He missed the rest of the school year. The emotional trauma was so great that he had to undergo psychological counseling at various times over the next 3 years. Plastic surgery was ultimately performed to minimize the scarring on his thigh.

The boy’s grandmother contacted us a week later and, with the parents permission, hired us to represent the boy with the grandmother serving as the child’s legal representative because of potential conflicts of interest with the parents. The parents hired another attorney to represent them.

Burn medical references we checked stated that a child would sustain a 3rd degree burn in less than one second if the liquid was 155 degrees or higher. The severity of burns depends on the depth, area and location of the burn. Burn depth is generally categorized as first, second or third degree.

A first degree burn is superficial and has similar characteristics to a typical sun burn. The skin is red in color and sensation is intact. It is usually somewhat painful.

Second degree burns look similar to the first degree burns; however, the damage is severe enough to cause blistering of the skin and the pain is usually more intense.

In third degree burns the damage has progressed to the point of skin death. The skin is white and without sensation.

The question became: How do we prove the temperature the soup was when it was delivered by the restaurant delivery service on May 16? We hired an investigator to be present in the home on May 27 when the parents would again order the wonton soup. The investigator would video all aspects of the delivery and temperature testing of the soup.

The delivery service was videoed delivering the soup to the home. The video was continued inside the home as the delivery bag was opened, the soup container taken out, the top removed, and a heat thermometer was placed inside the soup container, the kind used to test the temperature of meat roasting in an oven.

The video of the thermometer proved that the soup had reached the house on May 27 at a temperature of 165 degrees when the container was opened. The accuracy of this video to prove the soup temperature was dangerously high was not challenged by the defendants when presented to them later during the lawsuit.

Suit was brought against the restaurant for serving soup dangerously hot without warning the parents of the dangerously high temperature – the parents would then have known to pour the soup into another container and let it cool for a few minutes before serving it and no one need be injured.

At his deposition the restaurant owner, an engineer by training, admitted knowing that the soup was routinely poured into the container at a very high temperature, and this was deliberately done to prevent complaints that the soup was too cool when delivered to the home. The top of the delivery bag was always stapled together and a restaurant menu was stapled to the top.

He had no reasonable response when asked why he did not also merely staple a note on top of the menu warning the customer that any soup inside was very hot to prevent the need to reheat the soup and should be checked for proper serving temperature. Each warning note would cost less than five cents to print.

Suit was also brought against the styrofoam container manufacturer, a nationally know company, on the grounds that the container was a defective product and the manufacturer did not warn the restaurant that the container would deform if liquids hotter than 140 degrees were put in the container, a fact known to the manufacturer.

The lawsuit was settled with both defendants prior to trial. (A90K)

Overview of Burn, Explosion & Electric Shock Cases in Texas

Background – Fires, Burns & Explosions
Fires and explosions can cause 3 different types of inhalation injuries – lung burn, systemic toxins, and smoke.
True lung burn occurs only if you directly breathe in a hot air or flame source. In most cases, heat injury is confined to the upper airways, because the trachea usually shields the lung. However, lung injuries can occur after inhalation of steam because steam holds more heat than does dry air.
Systemic toxins such as carbon monoxide affect our ability to absorb oxygen. If someone is found unconscious or acting confused, systemic toxins could be the reason. Toxins can cause permanent damage to organs including the brain.
Each year in the United States, over 1.25 million people are hospitalized due to a burn injury. Ten thousand people die every year of burn-related infections. Due to improved medical technology in treating burn victims, survival statistics for serious burns have significantly improved. In years past, burns covering half the body were commonly fatal. Today, patients with burns encompassing 90 percent of their body surface can survive.
A person’s skin is the largest organ in the body. In addition to providing internal organs and tissues with a physical barrier from the environment and the dangers such as toxins, heat and cold, and disease-carrying microbes, the skin also plays an important role in preserving fluid balance and in regulating body temperature and sensation. Immune cells present in skin help the body prevent and fight disease. For these reasons, the loss of skin due to burns or trauma can deal the body a severe blow, impairing or even eliminating the many vital functions this organ performs. A burn injury is also one of the most painful injuries a person can sustain
A burn injury can be one of the most traumatic personal injuries a person can suffer. The financial, mental and physical costs of recovering from a burn injury are staggering. Serious burn injuries can commonly require long term hospitalization, doctors' visits, physical therapy and often require extensive counseling to help overcome the mental trauma associated with a burn injury.
Several factors are used to determine the severity of a burn injury, including the patient's age, size and depth of burn, and the location of the burn. Burns are generally classified by depth and they may be first, second or third degrees.

First-degree burns are red, very sensitive to touch, and may swell. The skin may appear paper-white when light pressure is applied. Sunburn is a good example of a first-degree burn.

Second-degree burns affect both the outer-layer of skin, the epidermis, and the under-lying layer of skin, the dermis, causing redness, pain, swelling and blisters. If a deep second-degree burn is not properly treated, swelling and decreased blood flow in the tissue can result in the burn becoming a third-degree burn.

Third-degree burns affect the epidermis, dermis and hypodermis, causing charring of skin or a translucent white color, with coagulated vessels visible just below the skin surface. These burn areas may be numb, but the patient may complain of pain. This pain is usually because of second-degree burns. Healing from third-degree burns is very slow due to the skin tissue and structures being destroyed. Third-degree burns usually result in extensive scarring.
Background - Electric Shocks
The number of American workers electrocuted on the job and experiencing fatal work-related injuries continues to rise. Contact with overhead power lines accounts for approximately two-fifths of fatal electrocutions.
The most common shock-related injury is a burn. Burns suffered in electrical accidents may be of three types: electrical burns, arc burns, and thermal contact burns.
Electrical burns result from electric current flowing through tissues or bone. The type and voltage of the circuit, the pathway through the body, and the duration and the resistance of the body will determine the severity of damage. Exit wounds, the location where the electricity leaves the body, are a key characteristic of electrical burns. A person with an electrical burn on the arm may have another wound on the leg. It is important to know the effects the burn had on the muscles, veins, arteries, and nerves between the entry point and the exit point.
Entry points are most commonly in the hand. If the exit point is the opposite hand, it may be likely that the electricity ran through the heart. At current flow exceeding 1/10 of an amp or 100 milliamps, the heart stops and experiences fibrillation. A person may survive an electrocution if the heart can be started again. This is why CPR is such an important skill in the electrical industry.
Another type of shock-related injury is an arc or flash burn. These burns are the result of high temperatures near the body and are produced by an electric arc or explosion.
Thermal contact burns are experienced when the skin comes in contact with hot surfaces of overheated electric conductors, conduits, or other energized equipment. Additionally, clothing may be ignited in an electrical accident and a thermal burn will result. Electrical, arc and thermal burns may be produced simultaneously in an accident.
Electric shock can also cause injuries of an indirect nature in which involuntary muscle reaction from the electric shock can cause bruises, bone fractures, and even death resulting from collisions or falls. In some cases, injuries caused by electric shock can be a contributory cause of delayed fatalities.
Governmental & Industry Safety Rules & Regulations
Often there are specific safety rules and regulations that apply to the type of activity or condition that caused the fire, burn, explosion, or electric shock accident.
All workplaces are governed by OSHA federal safety regulations that require compliance with electric and fire safety standards. City or County building codes for electric wiring and fire safety apply to many construction sites. The Mining Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) federal safety regulations apply to all mining and quarrying operations.
Local building codes are considered safety standards for accidents caused by shoddy, unsafe residential and commercial construction practices, including electrical wiring and natural gas plumbing.
The American Gas Association publishes standards for the natural gas industry – one often cited is “Detection, Repair, and Prevention of Leaks in Gas Distribution Systems.” The American National Standards Institute (“ANSI”) publishes also publishes safety standards – Standard B31.8 is often cited for natural gas accidents. 49 CFR ? 192, the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act, contains applicable federal pipeline safety regulations. Standards and regulations are also set by the Texas Railroad Commission.
Losing the Right to Make the Claim
You must file your lawsuit within a certain time period or else you will lose your right to pursue your claim. In many cases, the suit must be filed within two years from the date of the accident.

Simply contacting the business responsible for the premises where the accident occurred or contacting the businesses’ insurance company about the accident is not enough to stop the running of the two year period.
Cases involving federal and state governmental entities as defendants are governed by a different limitations procedures and periods. Claims against federal government entities are controlled by the Federal Tort Claims Act, which provides:
“A tort claim against the United States shall be forever barred unless it is presented in writing to the appropriate Federal agency within two years after such claim accrues or unless action is begun six months after the date of mailing, by certified or registered mail, of notice of final denial of the claim by the agency to which it was presented.”
Texas governmental entities are controlled by the Texas Tort Claims Act. The claim procedures in this Act must be followed. It requires that written notice, often using mandatory forms supplied by the agency involved, be given to the agency against whom the claim is being made within time periods shorter than a year after the accident, often as short as six months. Certain exceptions do exist in unique circumstances, but they require the analysis of a qualified attorney to determine if they are applicable.
There are other reasons to act quickly. Key witnesses may disappear, witnesses’ memories may fade, and vital documents may be lost. Sometimes it takes months of investigation to determine who the true defendants are that are legally responsible for the accident. It is crucially important that you do not delay in consulting with an attorney.

Contact us for a free no-obligation consultation as soon as possible to ensure that you retain your right to pursue your claim.
Contact Us for a Second Opinion If Another Attorney Has Declined To Represent You
Attorneys regularly decide whether the case that they are reviewing does or does not meet all the requirements to be a viable, sound case. Making this determination is not an exact science. Based on different experiences and analytic abilities, one attorney may turn down the opportunity to represent a client and another attorney may shortly thereafter decide to take the case.

The second reviewing attorney saw something the first reviewing attorney may have overlooked. The first attorney may have decided that liability was not clear, that you were not the type of relative that would be entitled to make a wrongful death claim, that there was not available insurance coverage or other sources to pay the money damages, or that there were other problems in seeking a recovery.

We would welcome the opportunity to review your family’s wrongful death claim even if another attorney has turned the case down. There is no charge or obligation for our review.
You may contact us at the following phone numbers at any time:

Office: toll free: 1-866-560-1075

local: 817-717-4080
Copyright 1994 - 2007 Clifford B. Rodgers.
Last Modified July 6, 2007.