Maryland Accident Law Blog
A 26-year-old Germantown, Maryland man has died from burn injuries he sustained in a fire at a gas station pump in Frederick. Ainsley Gordon caught fire, as did his sport utility vehicle and the gas pump that was next to the vehicle. Gordon was filling up a gas can when the fatal burn accident happened.
Investigators are trying to figure out what happened. They are saying that the victim wasn’t smoking or using his cell phone when the fire broke out.
Gasoline Burn Accidents:
• 1.1 million burn injuries a year occurred because of gasoline fires.
• 4.500 gasoline fire-related fatalities are a result of burn injuries while 10,000 other deaths involve infections from the burn wounds.
• Approximately 4,700 gas fires occur in the US each year.
If you or your loved one sustained serious burn injuries from a gasoline fire that was caused by another party’s negligence, you may have grounds for filing a Maryland injury lawsuit.
A gas station is one of the worst locations for a fire to happen. Unfortunately, gas station fires are not as uncommon as we’d like to think. Just last March, a woman died when a pickup truck crashed into gas pump, causing the pump to explode. The woman, who was pumping gas, became trapped between the pump and another vehicle.
In another gas fire accident earlier this year, a man who accidentally lit a match caught fire, as did the SUV that his friend was pumping gas into. Fortunately, the driver was able to retrieve his baby from the back seat and another passenger, a woman, was able to exit through the back window. The burn victim sustained injuries on 20% of his body.
Some fires at gasoline stations are a result of customer carelessness or driver negligence. There also may be certain hazards at the station, which the station owner or gasoline company should have remedied, that caused a blaze to break out.
Man fatally burned in Md. gas station fire, Washington Times, November 5, 2009
Man Catches Fire At Gas Station, KPHO, March 30, 2009
Woman Killed After Gas Station Pump Explodes, Fox, March 17, 2009
Gasoline Safety, Mass.gov
Related Web Resources:
Burns, Medline Plus
Service Station Safety, National Fire Protection Association
An experienced Maryland personal injury law firm can help you determine whether you have grounds for a case.