A serious burn is among the most devastating injuries a person can suffer, requiring intensive medical care, repeated surgeries, and a long recovery. When a burn results from another party's negligence in Charleston, South Carolina, the law may allow a claim for the full extent of the harm.
You generally have three years to file and can recover if you were 50 percent or less at fault, but burn cases require careful proof of how the injury happened and who is responsible. Our team at The Arndt Law Firm represents burn injury victims across Charleston County, and this page explains how these claims work and what they require.
Burn injuries arise from many sources, and identifying the cause is the first step in establishing who is responsible. Fires and explosions, whether in a building, a vehicle, or from a gas leak, are a leading cause of severe burns, and they often involve questions of property maintenance, code compliance, or defective equipment. Motor vehicle crashes can produce burns when a fuel system fails or a fire results from the collision, a dimension addressed alongside the broader claim on our Charleston car accident lawyer page.
Scald and contact burns are common in other settings. Defective water heaters, scalding tap water, hot surfaces, and industrial equipment can cause burns when they are not properly maintained or guarded. These often occur on property where an owner failed to address a known hazard. Chemical burns result from exposure to caustic substances, sometimes through defective products or inadequate warnings. Electrical burns result from contact with faulty wiring, exposed conductors, or unsafe equipment.
Each cause points toward different responsible parties and different bodies of law. A burn from a defective product implicates the manufacturer, a burn on poorly maintained property implicates the owner under premises law, and a burn in a crash implicates the at-fault driver and potentially a vehicle manufacturer. Determining the precise cause and mechanism of the burn is therefore central to identifying who is liable and how the claim should be built.
This is why a burn case often begins with a careful reconstruction of how the injury happened, sometimes well before the question of who pays is addressed. A fire that appears at first to be accidental may, on investigation, be traced to faulty wiring a landlord failed to repair, a defective appliance, or a code violation, each pointing to a different responsible party.
A scald that seems like simple misfortune may turn out to result from a water heater set dangerously high in a rental unit. Because the legal theory and the responsible parties follow directly from the physical cause, establishing exactly what happened is not a preliminary detail but the foundation on which the entire claim is built, and it is one reason burn cases reward early and thorough investigation.
Burns are classified by depth and extent, and the classification drives both the medical treatment and the value of a claim. First-degree burns affect only the outer layer of skin; second-degree burns extend deeper and cause blistering; third-degree burns destroy the full thickness of the skin, and fourth-degree burns reach into muscle and bone. The percentage of the body surface affected, along with the location and depth, determines the seriousness of the injury and the intensity of the care required.
Severe burns are among the most painful and medically complex injuries, often requiring treatment in a specialized setting. Serious burns in the Charleston area, including patients from North Charleston, West Ashley, James Island, and Mount Pleasant, are treated at MUSC Health University Medical Center on Ashley Avenue, the Lowcountry's only Level I trauma center. There, burn care, skin grafting, and the management of complications are handled for patients from across the region.
Treatment frequently involves multiple surgeries, skin grafts, intensive wound care, and a prolonged hospital stay, followed by months or years of rehabilitation.
The consequences of a serious burn extend far beyond the initial injury. Burns commonly leave permanent scarring and disfigurement, can cause lasting loss of function and mobility, and carry a significant risk of infection and other complications during recovery.
The physical and psychological toll, including chronic pain and the emotional impact of disfigurement, makes a serious burn one of the most life-altering injuries, and a complete claim has to account for all of these dimensions.
The extent and location of a burn matter as much as its depth in shaping both treatment and the claim. A deep burn over a large percentage of the body surface can be life-threatening and may require intensive care. In contrast, burns to the hands, face, joints, or other functionally and cosmetically important areas carry consequences out of proportion to their size. Burns to the airway from inhaling hot gases or smoke add a dangerous internal dimension that may not be visible at all.
Since the medical severity of a burn is measured along several axes at once, including depth, extent, location, and associated injuries, documenting each is important both to the survivor's care and to establishing the full scope of the harm in a claim.
South Carolina's modified comparative negligence rule applies to burn injury claims, allowing recovery as long as the injured person was 50 percent or less at fault, reducing the recovery by their percentage, and barring it at 51 percent or more. This 50% bar is a common law rule established by Nelson v. Concrete Supply Co., 303 S.C. 243 (1991). As in any injury case, the responsible party's insurer will look for grounds to assign fault to the injured person and reduce the recovery.
The fault analysis in a burn case depends heavily on the cause. Where a defective product caused the burn, the focus is on the manufacturer's responsibility, and the injured person's conduct may be largely irrelevant if they used the product as intended.
Where a burn occurred on property, the premises analysis of duty and notice applies, and where a crash caused the burn, the ordinary fault analysis of the collision governs. Matching the fault framework to the cause is part of building the claim correctly.
Because even partial fault reduces the recovery, establishing the responsible party's failure and minimizing any share attributed to the injured person is central to a burn case. The evidence of how the burn occurred, the condition of the product or property, and the injured person's reasonable conduct all bear on the allocation of fault, and developing those facts protects the recovery from being unfairly reduced.
Burn injuries generate some of the most serious damages in personal injury law because of the intensity and duration of the care they require. Economic damages cover the substantial medical costs, including emergency treatment, surgeries, skin grafts, hospitalization, and the extensive future care that serious burns demand, along with lost wages and reduced or destroyed earning capacity when the injury prevents a return to work. For a severe burn, the future medical costs alone can be enormous.
When a burn is fatal, South Carolina’s wrongful death statute (S.C. Code § 15-51-10) allows a claim to be brought by the executor or administrator of the deceased’s estate for the benefit of surviving family members. The deadline to file a wrongful death action is three years from the date of death. A survival action may also be brought for damages suffered by the deceased before death.
Non-economic damages are particularly significant in burn cases. Burns cause severe pain, and they frequently leave permanent scarring and disfigurement that affect a person's appearance, function, and sense of self, losses the law recognizes as real and compensable. The disfigurement and the emotional and psychological impact of a serious burn, including the effect on relationships and quality of life, are central elements of a burn claim rather than afterthoughts.
Where the conduct that caused the burn was reckless, punitive damages may be available. Under S.C. Code § 15-32-520(A)-(D), punitive damages require proof of willful, wanton, or reckless conduct by clear and convincing evidence. South Carolina caps punitive awards at the greater of three times compensatory damages or $500,000 for actions arising after 2011, pursuant to S.C. Code § 15-32-530, with exceptions that can lift the cap in certain circumstances. A burn caused by egregious disregard for safety, such as a knowing failure to address a serious fire hazard, may support a punitive award in addition to the compensatory recovery.
Liability for a burn injury depends on the cause, and identifying every responsible party is essential because serious burns generate costs that a single defendant may not be able to cover. When a defective product causes a burn, the manufacturer, and sometimes the distributor or retailer, can be liable under South Carolina's strict liability statute, S.C. Code § 15-73-10. Strict liability can apply if the product was in a defective condition unreasonably dangerous to the user or consumer and reached the user without substantial change from the condition in which it was sold. A defective heater, a flammable garment, or a faulty appliance points toward the chain of parties that put it into commerce.
When a burn occurs on property, the owner may be liable under premises law for a hazard they should have addressed, a framework detailed on our Charleston premises liability lawyer page. A landlord who failed to provide working smoke detectors or who ignored a known electrical hazard, or a business that failed to maintain safe equipment, can be responsible for a resulting burn. Where the burn arose in a crash, the at-fault driver and potentially a vehicle manufacturer enter the picture.
Other defendants may share responsibility depending on the facts. A contractor whose defective work created a fire or electrical hazard, an employer in certain circumstances, or a utility responsible for a gas or electrical failure may bear liability. Identifying every responsible party and every applicable insurance policy is central to a burn case because the catastrophic costs of a serious burn often require reaching more than one source to address the full harm.
Burn cases require thorough investigation because the cause must be established with precision, and the evidence can be consumed or altered by the very event that caused the injury. In a fire or explosion, the scene itself holds critical evidence about the origin and cause, and fire investigators, the fire department's reports, and physical evidence from the scene help determine what happened. This evidence can be disturbed during firefighting and cleanup, so prompt preservation is important.
Where a product caused the burn, the product itself is the central piece of evidence and must be preserved exactly as it was, because testing and analysis of the product can establish the defect. Discarding or altering the product can severely undermine a claim, which is why securing it immediately matters. Maintenance records, inspection histories, and code-compliance documentation become important where property conditions or equipment are involved.
Medical evidence documents the severity and the future needs. The records from the trauma and burn care, including the classification and extent of the burns, the surgeries performed, and the projected future treatment, establish both the injury and its long-term consequences. Witnesses to the event and the conditions that caused it complete the picture. Because the deadline is generally three years under S.C. Code § 15-3-530(5), but scene and product evidence can be lost quickly, the early investigation is often decisive in a burn case.
A serious burn is not a single event but the beginning of a long medical journey, and a claim that captures only the initial treatment badly understates the harm. After the emergency stabilization and the first surgeries, a burn survivor often faces a sequence of reconstructive procedures, repeated skin grafts, and ongoing wound care that can extend over years. Scar tissue contracts as it heals, sometimes limiting the movement of joints and requiring further surgery and physical therapy to restore function.
The future-care picture is central to valuing a burn claim accurately. A life-care plan, developed with medical input, projects the costs of the future surgeries, therapy, specialized garments, assistive devices, and ongoing treatment a survivor will need, and an economist quantifies lost earning capacity when a burn prevents a return to the person's prior work. For burns that cause permanent disfigurement or loss of function, these forward-looking costs can dwarf the already substantial initial bills.
The psychological dimension deserves equal attention. Burn survivors throughout Charleston County, including those in Daniel Island, Folly Beach, and Summerville, frequently experience significant emotional and psychological effects, including the trauma of the event itself and the lasting impact of visible scarring and disfigurement on daily life and relationships. Mental health treatment is often part of recovery, and the law recognizes this suffering as a real and compensable element of the claim. A complete burn case accounts for the whole arc of recovery, medical, financial, and psychological, rather than the snapshot of the initial hospitalization.
The steps taken after a burn injury protect both the survivor's health and any claim that follows. The overriding priority is immediate and appropriate medical care, because serious burns require specialized treatment and the risk of infection and complications is high. Prompt care at a facility equipped to manage burns gives the best chance of recovery and creates the detailed medical record the claim will rely on.
Preserving evidence of the cause is the next concern, and it often falls to family members when the injured person cannot act. If a product was involved, keep it exactly as it is and do not discard or repair it, because it is the key evidence of a defect. If the burn occurred on property or in a fire, photographs of the scene and the conditions, along with any fire department or official reports, help establish the cause. Identifying witnesses early preserves accounts of what happened.
In the period that follows, keep a thorough record and be cautious with insurers. Maintain a file of all medical records, bills, and documentation of the treatment and its costs, and avoid giving recorded statements to any insurer before understanding your rights. Because the evidence that establishes the cause of a burn, the scene, the product, the conditions, can be lost, altered, or repaired quickly, seeking advice early allows it to be preserved while a claim is evaluated.
The cause of a burn shapes which parties are responsible and which body of law applies, as the table below summarizes.
| Burn cause | Likely responsible party | Governing framework |
| Defective product (heater, appliance, garment) | Manufacturer, distributor, retailer | Product liability |
| Fire or hazard on the property | Property owner or landlord | Premises liability |
| Motor vehicle crash fire | At-fault driver, possibly vehicle maker | Negligence and product liability |
| Workplace or contractor-created hazard | Employer, contractor, or utility | Negligence varies by circumstance |
You may have a valid claim if you suffered burns from fires, explosions, defective products, scalding water, chemicals, or electrical hazards, as long as another party’s negligence or a defective product caused your injury. The key factor is showing that someone else’s actions or a product defect contributed to the burn.
Who can be held responsible for a burn injury depends on how the injury happened. Potentially liable parties include manufacturers (for defective products), property owners or landlords (for unsafe conditions), drivers (in vehicle accidents), contractors, or utility companies. Often, more than one party may share responsibility for the harm caused.
Burn injury claims are often worth significant amounts because severe burns typically require intensive and prolonged medical care. Victims may experience lasting scarring, disfigurement, and chronic pain. The law recognizes these physical and emotional hardships as compensable damages, contributing to higher claim values.
In Charleston, you generally have three years from the date of the burn injury to file a claim, as set by S.C. Code § 15-3-530(5). If your claim is against a government entity, the South Carolina Tort Claims Act (§ 15-78-110) sets a two-year limitation period, or three years if you file a verified claim within one year of the injury. Knowing these deadlines is crucial to protect your right to compensation.
Yes, you can recover compensation even if you were partly at fault for your burn injury, as long as your share of the fault is 50 percent or less. Your percentage of responsibility will reduce your compensation. If you are found to be 51 percent or more at fault, you cannot recover damages under South Carolina law.
The Arndt Law Firm builds every Charleston burn injury case by first establishing the precise cause, then identifying every responsible party and applicable insurance, preserving the scene and product evidence before it is lost, and documenting the full scope of a burn's medical, financial, and human consequences. Because attorney Arndt previously defended insurers and institutional clients, the firm understands how these high-value claims are evaluated and contested and builds them to reflect the true cost of a catastrophic burn.
If you or someone you love suffered a serious burn in Charleston County, including North Charleston, Mount Pleasant, West Ashley, James Island, Daniel Island, Folly Beach, or Summerville, acting early protects the scene and product evidence that establishes how the injury happened, which can be lost or altered within days.
We offer free consultations, and our team handles burn injury cases on a contingency basis with no fee unless there is a recovery. Reach out through our contact page to discuss what happened and see how these rules apply statewide on our South Carolina burn injury page.
Last reviewed: June 2026
This page was reviewed by Jonathan S. Arndt, licensed in South Carolina since 2018.
