Car Accidents & Defective Auto Parts

Vehicle Fire

It is a fact that 550 people die and 3,300 suffer injuries from automobile fires annually. Oftentimes, vehicle fires could be avoided if it wasn't for one defective part. Auto-related fires can be difficult to evaluate shortly after an accident. Fires are normally sparked from a crash, but the collision may only be the catalyst when the real culprit is a defective component. Flawed parts can increase the probability of a fire resulting from an accident that typically would not trigger a fire at all.

Car fires are especially dangerous due to the toxic gases that are released as the materials burn. Carbon dioxide poisoning is one of the leading causes of death during a vehicle fire. Carbon dioxide is undetectable to the human senses because it is an invisible, odorless, and tasteless gas that is lethal when inhaled in excessive amounts. A fire induced by the escape of gasoline is almost always characteristic of a subpar fuel system or another part that is destroyed and leaks fuel to feed the flames. As many as 1,000 victims are killed in vehicle fires every year.

Aside from being potentially fatal, automobile fires can leave their prey permanently scarred and disabled. The burn victims can be subjected to heat as high as 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit--more than seven times the temperature at which water boils. Flames can soar as high as ten feet in the air under certain circumstances at the scene of a vehicle fire. Scalding debris can be seen shooting in random directions, threatening the safety of anyone nearby.

When the flames have been doused, and the fire is out, an investigator will likely be sought out to pinpoint a source of the fire. This can be exceptionally difficult when all the parts of the vehicle are charred. In a case of this sort, the investigator may have to resort to piecing together a sequence of events. This evaluation could be accompanied by an engineer's expertise as well in order to produce the best assessment.

If you or someone close to you has suffered injuries in an automobile fire, that case has probably been evaluated by an insurance claims analyst and/or a local police investigator. While the information obtained by these investigators may be valuable, it is in the victim's best interest to contact an auto accident lawyer who can relay the investigation to a private fire investigator who will not exhibit any bias.