Is a Boat Owner Liable for a Fire with Injuries in Florida?
Fires are traumatic, particularly because burn injuries are often permanently scarring, both physically and emotionally. When injured in fires aboard boats in Florida, victims may bring claims against liable owners.
Generally speaking, boat owners are liable for fires that break out on their vessels, whether engine fires caused by poor maintenance or fires ignited during collisions with other boats. Boat owners can be liable if they allow other parties to operate their vessels who act negligently, causing a fire that injures victims onboard. To hold boat owners liable for burn injuries, victims must file timely claims within two years. Then, plaintiffs must establish the four elements necessary to prove liability: duty of care, breach of duty, causation, and damages. We can achieve this using a variety of evidence, like your medical records and eyewitness statements, enabling you to get the damages you need to heal physically, financially, and emotionally.
Call Rivkind Margulies & Rivkind, P.A. at (305) 204-5369 for a free case analysis from our Florida boat accident lawyers.
When Are Owners Liable for Boat Fires in Florida?
Boat owners are liable for fires onboard their vessels when they happen due to their negligence or recklessness. For example, if owners fail to ensure engines are working properly, there could be an increased risk of an electrical fire. If an operator collides with another vessel or object in the water and a fire breaks out onboard, they would also be liable for a victim’s injuries.
Engine Fires Due to Poor Maintenance
Engine issues are some of the most common causes of fires on boats. These types of fires might break out when boat owners fail to keep up with proper engine maintenance. However, if engine fires happen because of a defect in design or production, the engine manufacturer might be liable instead of the boat owner. We can explore this possibility following a boating fire due to engine malfunction in Florida. Engine overheating, faulty electrical wiring, fuel leaks, and negligence on deck could also lead to fires and burn injuries for victims.
Fires During Collisions with Other Vessels
Boat operators and owners may be liable for burn injuries sustained during collisions with other vessels. When two boats collide, there is a chance that one vessel’s engines or electrical systems become exposed to water, creating a shock hazard for victims thrown overboard. If the boat owner caused the collision that led to the fire and a victim’s burn injuries, they would be liable for the victim’s damages.
If the boat owner was not operating the vessel at the time but gave permission for someone else to operate it, and that person caused the fire, the boat owner might still share some liability for a victim’s burn injuries.
Fires Due to Other Acts of Negligence
Boats are often used for recreational purposes, but drinking alcohol while operating a vessel is dangerous and could lead to poor decision-making. Onboard fires might happen because boat owners fail to monitor parties or social gatherings on their vessels, leading to accidents due to intoxication. Boat owners might be liable for burn injuries sustained in fires because they did not have the proper equipment onboard to contain the situation, like fire extinguishers.
Companies that offer boating experiences to customers are liable for the actions of their employees while working. This means that if you are aboard a commercial boat and sustain injuries in a fire originally caused by one of the crewmembers, the company that employs the crewmember and owns the boat would be vicariously liable.
How to Hold a Boat Owner Liable for Injuries from a Fire in Florida
If a fire broke out on a vessel while you were a passenger, whether because of a collision or electrical issue, you could sustain serious burn injuries. Not only are these injuries expensive to treat, but they are often permanently disfiguring, causing victims life-long pain and suffering. This makes holding boat owners liable paramount, and our lawyers can help you do this by filing your claim on time and proving their negligence.
Learn Your Filing Deadline
According to Fla. Stat. § 95.11(5), the statute of limitations for suing for boating accidents and fires in and around Florida is two years. The filing deadline for fires on cruise ships might differ, and our Miami boat accident lawyers can confirm the jurisdiction and statute of limitations for accidents outside of U.S. territorial waters. Victims who do not file by the appropriate deadline lose their opportunity to recover damages, even for painful or disfiguring burn injuries, and our lawyers can ensure this does not happen by starting to prepare your case immediately after the boat fire.
Prove Liability
To prove liability, we must show the boat owner owed you a duty of care and breached it, causing the fire that injured you and cost you damages. Boat owners can be liable in various ways, such as if they act negligently themselves or if they allow another party to operate their vessel and they act negligently, causing an accident or fire. We can establish liability using a variety of evidence, like witness statements. We can promptly identify and interview witnesses as soon as possible after an accident. Though watching a catastrophic boat fire unfold might leave a lasting impression on witnesses, their memories could fade as more time passes, so prioritizing their interviews is crucial.
We will also need ample documentation of your injuries. Burn injuries require immediate medical treatment, and some victims might need surgery, skin grafts, pain management medications, antibiotics, or psychological support to deal with their pain and suffering. Records of your treatment can solidify that you sustained burn injuries on the date of the boat fire in question and that those injuries have cost you financially.
Call Our Boat Accident Attorneys in Florida Today
Call Rivkind Margulies & Rivkind, P.A. at (305) 204-5369 for help with your case from our Clearwater, FL boat accident lawyers.
