Explosions can result from gas leaks, industrial accidents, workplace incidents, and faulty products in your home, such as a fireplace or a propane grill with issues. They often cause devastating injuries, and it’s critical to understand your rights when you or a loved one has your life changed forever because of one.
Monge & Associates represents clients suffering harm due to explosions every day. Whether it was a workplace accident or a defective product in your home, our team of Arlington personal injury lawyers can help. Give us a call to connect to an Arlington explosion lawyer today to learn more.
Monge & Associates Injury and Accident Attorneys
Contact An Arlington Explosion Attorney Today
Why Choose Monge & Associates
Monge & Associates is the place to turn following injuries from an explosion because our firm has the knowledge and experience to handle these challenging cases. Our team:
- Has decades of experience: We have been representing the injured since 1993, and we have an in-depth knowledge of local Virginia law because of it.
- Has recovered over $1 billion. Our long track record of successfully settling cases and winning court verdicts shows we know how to present your evidence in the most compelling possible way to help you get the justice you deserve.
- Has the resources to conduct thorough investigations. We will investigate the scene, bring in reconstruction experts and engineers, and bring our considerable resources to the table to help prove how the explosion happened.
- Is dedicated to our clients. We are committed to pursuing the maximum compensation for explosion victims and their families so they can rebuild their lives.
Types of Explosion Cases We Handle
Monge & Associates represents clients after many different kinds of explosion injuries. Here are some of the cases we handle:
- Gas Explosions: This includes natural gas leaks, explosions due to aging pipes or faulty installation, and negligence on the part of the utility company, Washington Gas
- Propane Explosions: We help clients after tank failures, grill accidents, and heating system explosions.
- Industrial/Workplace Explosions: We’ll take action against refineries, chemical plants, and construction site operations responsible for explosions.
- Residential Explosions: This includes explosions caused by faulty appliances like furnaces, water heaters, and stoves, as well as defective products in the home.
- Vehicle Explosions: We’ll represent you after fuel tank fires or commercial truck accidents that cause explosions.
- Chemical Explosions: This includes incidents caused by improper storage and laboratory accidents
Common Explosion Injuries
The injuries caused by an explosion are often devastating. Here are some of the most common explosion injuries you may suffer.
- Severe Burns: First through fourth-degree burns requiring skin grafts, reconstructive surgery, and permanent scarring
- Traumatic Brain Injuries: From blast force or being thrown
- Broken Bones: From explosion pressure or falling debris
- Inhalation Injuries: Smoke, toxic fumes, lung damage
- Hearing/Vision Loss: From blast waves or debris
- PTSD: Anxiety, depression, nightmares
- Wrongful Death: Fatal explosion injuries
You deserve to be fully compensated for the long-term damage these injuries caused.
Who Is Liable for Explosion Injuries?
An Arlington explosion lawyer at Monge & Associates will help you to identify and take action against all the parties that could be legally responsible for your losses. This can include the following potential defendants:
- Gas Utility Companies: Washington Gas and other providers may be liable for negligent maintenance, aging infrastructure, and failure to respond to leak reports
- Property Owners/Landlords: Property owners may be liable under premises liability laws for failure to maintain gas lines or appliances
- Contractors: Hitting gas lines during construction and improper installation are two examples of negligence that could lead to contractors or their employers being held liable.
- Equipment Manufacturers: Manufacturers could be held liable under product liability laws for defective appliances, or issues with tanks or valves
- Employers: Workers can make a workers’ compensation claim regardless of negligence, but we also help clients to prove issues like OSHA violations or inadequate safety training
- Maintenance Companies: Negligent repairs or inspections can result in the maintenance company being held liable
Multiple parties often share liability. We identify all responsible defendants to maximize your compensation.
What Compensation Can You Recover?
You should be fully compensated for both economic and non-financial losses so you can be “made whole” after an explosion injury. Some of the different kinds of compensation you may be entitled to recover include:
- Medical expenses: This includes payment for emergency care, surgeries, and all treatments received to the date of the settlement or court verdict.
- Future medical costs: The defendant should pay for burn treatment, rehabilitation, counseling, and any ongoing medical care that you need because of the explosion.
- Lost wages and reduced earning capacity: If you missed work or had your future earning power reduced, you should be fully compensated for all the income you won’t earn during your lifetime.
- Pain and suffering: You should be compensated for the physical pain that you experience because of the explosion. This can be substantial, as burn injuries and other serious injuries after an explosion are often painful to treat.
- Emotional distress and PTSD treatment: Explosions often cause lasting mental harm. You should be compensated for emotional distress, including anxiety, PTSD, and depression.
- Disfigurement and scarring: Explosions may have a lasting impact on your appearance that you should be compensated for.
- Property damage: Your home, vehicle, and other property could be destroyed by an explosion. The defendant should be held liable for the loss of your property.
- Wrongful death damages: If your loved one was killed, the defendant should cover funeral costs, a lifetime of lost wages, and the loss of support and companionship resulting from the death.
Virginia Statute of Limitations
You have a limited period of time to take legal action against a defendant who harmed you. If you wait too long, your case is time-barred. Here are the time limits for pursuing a claim.
- Personal injury: 2 years from the explosion date
- Wrongful death: 2 years from the date of death
- Property damage: 5 years from when the damage occurred
If you are making a workers’ compensation claim, you have different deadlines. And, with any type of claim, evidence can disappear quickly, so you want to begin building your case as soon as possible. Call Monge & Associates today so an Arlington explosion lawyer can begin building your case.
How Our Explosion Lawyers Help
Monge & Associates will be there for you every step of the way to help you pursue justice. Our team will offer:
- Immediate Investigation: We’ll preserve critical evidence before it’s destroyed
- Expert Collaboration: We connect you with explosion reconstruction specialists, engineers, and fire investigators who can testify on your behalf.
- Prove Negligence: We’ll establish the defendant’s duty of care, demonstrate a breach, show this caused the explosion, and prove the extent of the damages. These are essential elements you must prove to be compensated after an explosion.
- Handle Insurance Companies: We fight insurance company tactics to minimize payouts and help you to avoid saying anything that could jeopardize your claim.
- Identify All Liable Parties: We’ll carefully review the facts to identify all potential defendants, including gas companies, property owners, manufacturers, and employers
- Representation in workers’ compensation and third-party claims. We’ll help you work within the workers’ compensation system to get benefits and also identify third parties who could be liable for your workplace injuries.
We do not charge any upfront costs, and we don’t charge legal fees unless we win.
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Contact an Arlington Explosion Lawyer Today
Monge & Associates is ready to fight for you and bring our decades of legal experience to your case. Give us a call today or contact us online to schedule your free consultation with an Arlington explosion lawyer who can fight for you.