A resident of the North Lawndale neighborhood was taken to the hospital December 28th for severe burns after her apartment building caught on fire, CBS Chicago reports.
The cause of the blaze is not immediately known. The woman was treated at the scene and later taken to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital in critical condition.
Chicago is a city with fire in its history.The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 remains a significant part of the history of this city, both in its devastating loss of life and property, and in its creation of opportunity to become the thriving modern metropolis it is today. The Great Fire is also responsible for the creation of the then state-of-the-art safety measures and regulations to prevent a similar catastrophe from happening in the future.
Regardless of these measures, fires occur, and people are injured in them. If someone is injured in a fire, their doctor’s bills are likely to be significant. If insurance cannot (or will not) pay for treatment and care, an experienced personal injury attorney can fight for the compensation that is owed to the injured. If someone is responsible for the fire, then they are responsible for injuries and property damage caused by the fire. An important step in building a case for an injured party is to establish who is at fault for starting the blaze. There are numerous tools an attorney has at their disposal to place the blame for the fire where it belongs, amongst them reports by the fire department’s investigators.
Chicago Fire Department and Investigations
The brave men and women of the Chicago Fire Department are tasked with preventing and fighting fires within the city limits. The most visible of Chicago’s Bravest are those in helmets and coats on the scene of the fire, fighting the blaze and rescuing occupants of the building. Another part of the CFD is the Office of Fire Investigation Division, or OFI. OFI’s duty is to investigate the causes of the fire. Often a fire is started by faulty wiring or some other negligent failure to maintain property. In cases such as these, a building owner or landlord may be at fault, or perhaps the electrician or HVAC company that installed the systems.
Contact a Chicago Personal Injury Attorney
Building a case against someone who negligently caused injury is an intricate process with many steps and costs. To get the compensation you deserve, you need an experienced personal injury attorney, one who understands the process and has the resources to begin fighting for you from the moment you contact him.
