Were you burned in an accident in Midland, TX?
At Greenberg Streich Injury Lawyers, we represent burn survivors and their families in claims against the companies responsible for the fire, explosion, or release.
If you were burned on the job or on someone else’s property in Midland, you may have a claim for the full cost of treatment, including the surgeries that come months after the hospital discharge. A Midland, TX burn injury lawyer identifies the company responsible for the fire or release and builds the claim around that long course of care.
Both of our founding attorneys have handled burn cases arising from plant fires, well site explosions, and chemical releases. Their results include a $20 million burn settlement from a well site case. We handle burn cases on a contingency fee, so there are no attorney fees unless we recover compensation, and the consultation is free.
Burn Injury Lawyer Midland, TX
A burn injury attorney brings claims for people burned by a fire, an explosion, hot fluid, chemicals, or electricity that a company should have controlled. The work has two parts that run at the same time. The first is proving how the fire or release started and which company allowed it, which requires an investigator on the scene before it is cleaned up. The second is documenting a course of treatment that can run for years, because a burn claim settled before the surgeons have finished leaves the later procedures unpaid. We handle both parts, and the insurers deal with us rather than with the patient or the family.
Fires in the United States injured 13,027 civilians in 2024 and killed 3,881, according to U.S. Fire Administration figures. The national fire death rate stood at 13.1 deaths per million people in 2023, a figure that has risen 27 percent over ten years, according to the agency’s fire death risk data. Those counts are limited to fires, so chemical, steam, and electrical burns common on a Permian Basin job site fall outside them.
Types of Burn Injury Cases We Handle in Midland, TX
Our burn injury attorneys take cases arising at the well sites, gas plants, and pipelines around Midland, along with fires in homes or businesses inside the city. Each type of burn involves a different responsible company and a different set of records.
- Explosion accidents. The flash from an explosion burns any exposed skin in an instant, while the pressure wave adds fractures or hearing damage. A fire investigator retained by our firm traces the fuel and the ignition source.
- Refinery accidents. Process fires or releases of hot hydrocarbons at the gas plants around Midland burn operators and contract workers alike. We request the plant’s maintenance history and its earlier incident reports before the insurer has finished its own review.
- Oilfield accidents. Well fires and ignited gas at tank batteries cause deep burns over large areas of the body. Responsibility is divided among the operator and the contractors on location, so the claim begins with the contracts.
- Workplace injuries. Workers in shops or warehouses are burned by steam lines, hot fluid systems, and energized equipment as often as workers on well sites. A claim for a worker burned on the job can reach companies beyond the employer.
- Chemical burns. Drilling fluids and plant chemicals burn through skin until they are washed out. Training and labeling records show whether the workers knew what they were handling.
- Electrical burns. An electrical burn does most of its damage below the surface, where the current destroys muscle and nerve. The question in these cases is which company was responsible for de-energizing the line.
- Steam and hot fluid burns. Scalds from steam and heated process fluids occur at temperatures far below a flame. A failed lockout is the usual cause, and the permit for the work records who was responsible for it.
- Premises liability. Fires in apartments, hotels, or commercial buildings injure tenants and guests when wiring is faulty or exits are blocked. The owner’s inspection history shows whether the hazard was reported before the fire.
- Wrongful death. A family that loses a relative to burns or smoke inhalation has its own claim against the companies at fault, covering the support the relative provided and the family’s own grief.
Why Choose Greenberg Streich Injury Lawyers as my Burn Injury Lawyer in Midland, TX?
Burn Cases From Well Sites, Plants, and Pipelines
Matt Greenberg has represented burn survivors for more than a decade in cases arising from oilfield explosions, plant fires, and chemical releases. Those cases involve the kinds of operators, contractors, and insurers that appear in a Midland burn claim, so the investigation does not start from the beginning. He has been recognized by Super Lawyers and by the National Trial Lawyers.
Mike Streich defended pipeline, refinery, and oilfield operators in burn cases before he moved to the plaintiff side. That work showed him how a company’s insurer responds to a burn claim, and a Midland burn injury attorney with that background anticipates the defense before it is raised. Both attorneys try cases, and that willingness affects what an insurer offers.
Recoveries for Burn Survivors
Our attorneys have recovered more than $348 million for injured clients. The $20 million settlement for a worker burned after a blowout preventer valve was left open by contractors came from an oilfield burn case. A plant and refinery accident case resolved for $7,373,750. Burn claims are among the cases we handle as a personal injury lawyer in Midland, TX, and the treatment record is the foundation of every demand we send.
Clients owe nothing for our work while the case is pending, and no attorney fee is charged unless compensation is recovered.
Understanding Burn Injury Cases
What Should You Bring to Your Burn Injury Consultation?
A burn injury lawyer in Midland, TX can start with the paperwork the family already has, because the patient is often still hospitalized at the first meeting. The most useful items are the name of the hospital or burn center, any incident or fire department report, photographs of the scene or of the injuries, the names of witnesses, and any contact from an insurer or company representative. The consultation is free, and a family member can attend in the patient’s place. We explain which companies we would investigate and how the case fits around the treatment schedule.
Damages, Liability, and Compensation for Burn Injury Cases
A burn claim succeeds by proving that a company failed to use reasonable care and that the failure caused the fire, release, or contact. The failure may be a skipped inspection, an ignored leak, a disabled alarm, or a worker sent into an area without protective equipment. Texas applies a 51 percent bar to every injury claim, so a burn survivor found more than half at fault recovers nothing, and a smaller share of fault reduces the recovery proportionally. Companies raise that defense often in burn cases, usually by arguing that the worker ignored a procedure, which is why a Midland, TX burn injury attorney secures the training records and the permits early.
The value of a burn claim depends on the treatment still ahead: grafting revisions, contracture releases, scar revision, and years of therapy. Economic damages include that future care along with lost wages and lost earning capacity. Noneconomic damages for a burn survivor include disfigurement, physical impairment, physical pain, and mental anguish, each of which Texas law treats as a separate category of loss. Exemplary damages are reserved for gross negligence proven by clear and convincing evidence.
What Are Important Aspects of a Burn Injury Case?
- The origin and cause of a fire must be established before the scene is cleaned up or the equipment is scrapped, so an independent investigator should be on site within days.
- Burn depth together with the share of the body affected sets the treatment plan, and the treatment plan sets the value of the claim.
- Texas allows two years to file most injury suits, measured from the date of the burn, and the clock on a wrongful death claim starts on the date of death.
- The Midland Fire Department responds from 11 stations covering more than 900 square miles, and its incident report is one of the first records we request after a fire in the city.
What Is The Burn Injury Case Timeline?
- Preservation demands go out within days to every company that owned the site, the equipment, or the chemicals involved.
- A fire investigator, joined by an engineer when needed, examines the scene and the equipment before either is altered.
- Your treatment runs its course, and we document each surgery as it occurs.
- Once your surgeons can list the procedures still ahead, we calculate the claim and present it to each insurer.
- Suit follows in Midland County when the insurers will not pay fair value, with mediation before trial.
The investigation is finished long before the treatment is, so a Midland burn injury lawyer is ready to present the claim as soon as the medical picture is clear.
Reach Out to Greenberg Streich Injury Lawyers to Schedule a Consultation
Speak with a Midland, TX burn injury lawyer before you accept any payment from an insurer. We will explain who we consider responsible and what the claim must include. Our fee is paid only out of a recovery, and a call or message to our office receives a prompt reply. Contact us to arrange a free consultation about a burn injury in Midland, TX.
