Maison Law represents California residents who have been injured due to wildfires caused by negligent California utility companies like PG&E. Our personal injury lawyers go to work immediately to hold power companies responsible for all injuries and medical bills that result from their carelessness. Please contact us to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation with a real California lawyer and find out how to hold PG&E fully accountable for your hardships.
Who Is Responsible for Injuries Suffered in a Wildfire Started by PG&E?
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has been blamed for contributing to the causes of many major California wildfires in recent years. The utility corporation is officially blamed for over 30 wildfires since 2017, including the Camp Fires and the Butte Fires. Investigators point to the electricity and natural gas supplier’s delay in upgrading their power grid and maintenance around power lines for starting fires during storms.
Entire cities were decimated. People lost their homes and cars and had to move their entire lives to safer ground. And those fires will continue to spark each year as long as utility companies ignore risks around their power lines and towers.
The devastation will rage on and people will continue to suffer serious injuries and lose their lives to frightening wildfires.
Victims have been allowed to target PG&E and seek support in recovery through the Fire Victim Trust. The fund helps victims of the 2015 Butte Fires, the 2017 North Bay Fires, and the 2018 Camp Fires.
Other fire victims may be able to draw from this fund. Some victims who have been hurt in fires or have lost a loved one in the flames can also file individual lawsuits. They can ask for help with their medical bills and the pain they’ve been put through. PG&E won’t automatically provide everything victims need to recover. However, a California PG&E Wildfire Lawyer steps in to fight for clients and make sure they receive the support they require after suffering a major injury.
Common Wildfire Injuries
Victims who suffer serious injuries in a wildfire, like burns or breathing problems, should seek the help of a skilled California wildfire attorney. Victims may face the side effects of exposure to a wildfire over months, years, or decades.
The extreme cost of care will prompt PG&E to call upon its corporate lawyers to try to limit the compensation they must pay to wildfire injury victims. This is a very unfair practice, because victims may face life-changing harm that will require medical care for the rest of their lives.
These are just some of the worst injuries that wildfire victims suffer and some of the causes:
- Burns
- Heart and Lung Injuries
- Eye Injuries
- Smoke Inhalation
- Skin Injuries
- Head Injuries
- Blunt Force Trauma
- Electrical burns
- Trip-and-fall injuries during evacuation
- Car accident injuries during evacuation
- Heat exhaustion
- Toxic Exposure Injuries
- Permanent scarring and disfigurement
What Kind of Wildfire Support Should I Expect from PG&E After an Injury?
One of the most important functions of a wildfire lawsuit or claim will be to get those with the most traumatic injuries the care they need to continue on with their lives. They’ll need the support to provide as much freedom as possible.
A California Wildfire & Utilities Claim Lawyer battles the corporate lawyers who protect PG&E. Your lawyer would be demanding support for rebuilding your life after a debilitating injury that may never heal completely. These are just a few of the factors that PG&E should take responsibility for after a devastating wildfire that causes a long-term injury.
- Support for a lifetime of medical care.
- Support for long-term physical therapy.
- Support for additional surgeries needed.
- Support for reconstructive and restorative surgery.
- Support for home care or nursing home care.
- Support for home and office renovation for victims to provide mobility to those with severe injuries.
- Support for helping victims find new careers if their disability prevents them from returning to their previous jobs.
- Compensation for a lifetime of paychecks if a patient will never be able to return to work or support family members.
Your lawyer will demand support for every hardship you and your family have had to endure and those hardships to come. A wildfire settlement check should also address these more current needs of patients and their families:
- Current hospital expenses.
- The physical pain wildfire victims endure.
- The emotional trauma families face in the flight from fire and in injury recovery. A skilled California personal injury attorney will see that your emotional damages receive full consideration. You shouldn’t be alone as you make the difficult journey back to a normal life after an injury.
- Support for your loss of enjoyment of life if you can’t return to the hobbies and family activities you love due to health issues.
- Costs incurred during evacuation. Living Expenses while without a home, especially while you are healing from an injury.
- Loss of income and benefits while victims must miss work as they attempt to recover.
- Wrongful death benefits. A family that has suffered the tragic loss of a loved one due to a wildfire can file a wrongful death claim. The civil claim filed against PG&E would seek support to help family members make it through such a difficult time.
Contact a California Wildfires Lawyer
Wildfires can disrupt people’s lives in ways that few other disasters can. Evacuees can flee for their lives and later learn they have no home to return to. They may suffer life-threatening harm while trying to save their families. When PG&E is found liable, the corporation must be held responsible for its negligence.
Maison Law isn’t afraid to take on gigantic power companies and government agencies to secure our clients what they need to heal and rebuild after a fire.
Contact Maison Law for a free consultation no matter where you live in California. Our case reviews are confidential and come with no obligation. If you decide we can help you earn more for your injuries and damages, you won’t need to have any upfront money to hire us. We don’t get paid unless we win your case for you. Then our fee comes out of the settlement money you are awarded.
