Who’s Responsible For A Fire Injury? Experienced Premises Liability Attorneys Can Help.
Here in New York City, it is unfortunately common that you may be living in a building that does not have proper fire safety practices in place, including the ability to safely exit your building or to have properly working smoke detectors in the right place.
Being injured because you were trapped in a burning building or were not alerted by your smoke detector in time may be the result of negligence and an actionable injury that’s owed compensation. At Edelman & Edelman, P.C., we have over 65 years of experience in assisting New Yorkers who have been injured through the wrongful actions of another.
“A lot of these people are told they don’t have a case from another attorney and they come to me. I can do it.” – Martin Edelman
Ingress/Egress Routes Are A Right Where You Live
Ingress and egress refer to your ability to enter and leave a space safely. In the context of where you live, your landlord owes you a duty to provide a means of ingress and egress in the case of emergencies.
Examples of failing to provide ingress/egress may include cases where your landlord has placed bars over the windows of your apartment, which prevent you from accessing your fire escape, or the building owner has closed off hallways that prevent you from escaping your building. These are illegal practices, and if anything like this has occurred in your building, then your landlord is liable for the smoke or burn injuries that stem from those hazards.
These practices are illegal for a reason.
- In January 2022, a Bronx tragedy occurred when the self-closing doors in an apartment building failed to close, allowing a fire to sweep through the whole building and kill 19 people, including nine children. More than 60 other people were injured.
- In one fire injury case, an employer cut off ingress and egress to keep its employees from going out to smoke cigarettes and take breaks, which lead to them being trapped in a building fire.
- In another case, metal bars were placed on windows and fire escapes were removed by the landlord to prevent break-ins. Instead, it kept people trapped in the building during a fire.
Each of these examples could have been prevented or the loss of life reduced had the property owner obeyed premises liability law and provided people the means to safely exit the premise.
A Lack Of Working Smoke Detectors And Following Placement Requirements Is A Serious Matter
Every residential building is required by law to follow fire safety codes that include properly maintaining smoke detectors and following smoke detector placement requirements. However, it is a common problem for New York City landlords to ignore faulty smoke detectors, fail to fix them, or improperly place them so they fail to detect smoke in time.
If you are in a fire but are not warned at the earliest opportunity, then you could lose the opportunity to escape in time. There are established rules and fire safety procedures that our New York fire injury attorneys know, and we can use this knowledge to make your case in court that your landlord was responsible for your injuries.
Contact Our NYC Fire Injury Attorneys Today
If you or someone you love has been injured or lost their life in a fire that you believe was caused by landlord or building owner negligence, we can help. Some attorneys will tell you that you do not have a case, but attorney Martin Edelman and Edelman & Edelman, P.C.‘s team of skilled litigators have the fire expertise necessary to help you get the compensation you may be owed. Call our office at 212-235-1197 or send us a brief email to tell us more about your case.