At The Arndt Law Firm, our team understands how devastating a serious burn injury can be for you and for your loved ones. We’ve seen how quickly life can change, whether the incident happens at home, on the job, or even at a favorite Georgetown spot like Front Street, a rental property in Pawleys Island, or one of our local marinas. In moments like these, you need more than legal help; you need a team that listens, cares, and knows how to guide you forward.
When you reach out to us, you’re connecting with people who take your story seriously. We work together to investigate what happened, gather evidence from places like Tidelands Georgetown Memorial Hospital or Grand Strand Medical Center, and make sure you understand your options every step of the way. Our experience with Georgetown County’s unique mix of homes, businesses, and waterfront properties means we know how local rules and insurance issues can shape a burn injury claim.
We believe that clear, honest communication is just as important as legal strategy. Our team is committed to answering your questions in plain language and keeping you informed, so you never feel left out or overwhelmed. We’re here to shoulder the legal burdens so you can focus on your recovery.
If you or a loved one has suffered a burn injury in Georgetown, Pawleys Island, or anywhere along the Grand Strand, let our team support you. Visit our contact page to start a conversation about your case and find out how we can help you move forward.
Thermal burns come from flame, hot surfaces, and hot liquids. A scald from a water system set too high points at whoever controlled that system. A flash fire from a gas appliance or a fuel source points at an installer, a maintenance contractor, or a manufacturer.
Electrical burns point at whoever was responsible for the wiring, the equipment, or the energized line, which can mean a contractor, a property owner, a utility, or an equipment manufacturer. Those injuries are frequently worse than they look at the surface, because current travels through tissue between entry and exit points.
Chemical burns point at the manufacturer of the substance, the business that stored it, and whoever was responsible for labeling and handling. Pool chemicals and marine cleaning and maintenance products both belong here.
Where a burn followed a collision on U.S. 17, the coastal highway between Charleston and Myrtle Beach, or on U.S. 701 (North Fraser Street) through central Georgetown, a vehicle fire can support both a negligence claim against the driver and a product claim over fuel system design. Vessel and vehicle fires sit in a category of their own, combining an ordinary negligence claim against an operator with a potential product claim against a manufacturer over fuel system design.
Why does the type of burn matter legally?
Because the mechanism identifies the defendant and the body of law. A scald points at whoever controlled the water system, an electrical burn at whoever controlled the equipment or the line, and a chemical burn at a manufacturer or the business that stored it.
Where a product caused the burn, South Carolina applies law that does not require proof of carelessness at all.
South Carolina Code of Laws, 15 S.C. Code Ann. § 73-10 (2024) provides that one who sells any product in a defective condition unreasonably dangerous to the user or consumer is subject to liability for physical harm caused, where the seller is engaged in the business of selling such a product, and where it is expected to and does reach the user without substantial change in the condition in which it is sold.
The next provision is the one people do not expect. The rule applies although the seller has exercised all possible care in the preparation and sale of the product, and although the user has not bought the product from or entered into any contractual relation with the seller. A manufacturer that did everything right can still be liable, and a rental guest who never bought the appliance can still sue its maker.
There is a corresponding limit. South Carolina Code of Laws, 15 S.C. Code Ann. § 73-20 (2024) provides that a user who discovers the defect, is aware of the danger, and nevertheless proceeds unreasonably to make use of the product is barred from recovery.
That is a genuine bar rather than a percentage reduction. In a negligence claim, an injured person recovers as long as their negligence is not greater than that of the defendants combined. The award is reduced by their percentage, and a plaintiff found 51 percent or more at fault recovers nothing (Nelson v. Concrete Supply Co., 303 S.C. 243 (1991)). Whether comparative fault applies to strict liability claims is not answered by the statute or by a controlling appellate decision.
South Carolina also incorporates the comments to Section 402A of the Restatement (Second) of Torts by reference as the legislative intent of the chapter (South Carolina Code of Laws, 15 S.C. Code Ann. § 73-10 (2024)).
Georgetown County's injured population skews older, and that changes the burn picture in a way worth stating.
Older skin is thinner and burns at lower temperatures and shorter exposures than younger skin does. A water temperature that would produce a painful but superficial injury in a younger adult can produce a full thickness burn in an older one, and the same is true of contact with a heater, a stove surface, or a hot liquid.
The consequences compound. Healing is slower, infection risk is higher, grafting is harder on thin skin, and a burn that would be a temporary setback for a younger person can end independent living for an older one.
That makes the responsible party question sharper rather than softer. Water heater temperature is a building system controlled by an owner, a landlord, a management company, or an association, not by the person who turned on a tap. Where a residence, a rental, or a care setting supplied water hot enough to cause a full-thickness burn, the question is who set and maintained that system.
Where the injured person was already frail, an insurer will argue the injury reflects their condition rather than the burn. South Carolina asks whether the incident caused the harm, and a defendant takes the injured person as found.
Is a landlord responsible for a scald from the water heater?
Where the landlord controlled the system, and the temperature setting created a hazard the occupant could not inspect, that falls within the duty to address conditions a landowner knew of or should have discovered.
A county whose water covers more than a fifth of its area produces burn mechanisms that an inland market does not.
Vessel fires and explosions arise from fuel systems, fuel vapor accumulation in enclosed spaces, electrical faults, and generator and engine compartments. A fuel system defect is a product claim against a manufacturer under South Carolina Code of Laws, 15 S.C. Code Ann. § 73-10 (2024), running alongside any negligence claim against an operator or a service yard.
Fueling operations at marinas and landings raise questions about equipment condition, spill containment, and procedures. Boatyards and repair facilities add commercial premises questions with commercial coverage behind them.
Where a rented vessel was involved, the rental operator's maintenance records and pre-hire checks become the documentary core of the case, and those records exist because the business keeps them rather than because litigation was anticipated.
Shore side, propane systems at waterfront properties, outdoor cooking equipment, and fire pits produce thermal burns with questions about placement, guarding, and supervision.
Where the burn happened on premises rather than from a product, the claim runs through the property framework.
South Carolina recognizes four classifications of people who come onto premises, and a business guest or a paying rental guest is an invitee, owed reasonable care including a warning of latent dangers the occupier knew of or should have discovered. A water heater set too hot, a faulty outlet, a gas connection, or a missing detector is exactly the kind of latent condition a visitor cannot inspect.
In a community or rental setting, the control question matters, since an association may control building systems in common areas while an individual owner controls a unit interior, and a management company may control maintenance. The premises liability analysis sets out that framework.
Tenant housing raises the landlord questions: water heater temperature, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, electrical systems in older buildings, and heating equipment.
Where the burn arose from how a building was constructed rather than how it was maintained, a contractor, subcontractor, or design professional may be involved, and a separate deadline applies.
A large share of serious burns are work injuries, and the structure of the claim changes accordingly.
Section 42-1-540 provides that the rights and remedies under the workers' compensation title exclude all other rights and remedies against the employer, at common law or otherwise. The employer is generally unavailable as a negligence defendant no matter how clearly it was at fault.
The same section carries a carve-out routinely omitted. The limitation does not apply to injuries resulting from acts of a subcontractor of the employer, and it does not bar an action by an employee of one subcontractor against another subcontractor where a common employer hired both.
What survives is a claim against a true third party, such as the equipment manufacturer or a chemical supplier. A property owner or upstream contractor is not always a third party: an owner that contracts out work that is part of its own trade or business is treated as the employer for compensation purposes (South Carolina Code of Laws, 42 S.C. Code Ann. § 1-400 (2024)).
Another subcontractor hired by the same employer can still be sued (South Carolina Code of Laws, 42 S.C. Code Ann. § 1-540 (2024)). That claim carries a shorter deadline. Under South Carolina Code of Laws, 42 S.C. Code Ann. § 1-560 (2024), and on the forms the South Carolina Workers' Compensation Commission publishes for it, the action must be commenced within one year after the compensation carrier accepts liability or makes payment, after which the right of action passes to the carrier following written notice and twenty days. The carrier also holds an interest in what the third party claim recovers.
The single most important step is preserving the item that caused the injury. A product claim without the product is far harder, and appliances, heaters, wiring, tools, containers, and vessel components are routinely repaired, returned to a manufacturer for inspection, or put back into service before anyone objects.
Fire investigation reports come next. Where a fire department or fire marshal investigated, that file contains origin and cause analysis that would cost a great deal to reproduce.
Other records include maintenance and inspection history, product recall and complaint history, safety data sheets for a chemical, code enforcement history, marina or yard service records where a vessel was involved, and employer safety documentation where the burn happened at work.
Photographs of the injury over time carry unusual weight, because appearance changes substantially through healing and grafting, and that is more pronounced where healing is slow.
Should I let the company inspect the appliance that burned me?
Not without advice. Preserving the product, appliance, or component is often the difference between a viable product claim and an unprovable one, and releasing it for inspection can compromise that.
Tidelands Georgetown Memorial Hospital (606 Black River Road) has no trauma designation, and Tidelands Waccamaw Community Hospital in Murrells Inlet is an Adult Level IV trauma center, so a serious burn is often stabilized locally and then transferred for specialized care.
Published collisions in Georgetown County show patients taken to Tidelands Georgetown Memorial Hospital, to Tidelands Waccamaw Community Hospital, and to Grand Strand Regional Medical Center in Horry County. In one collision, two occupants of the same vehicle went to two different hospitals in two different counties.
Specialized burn treatment frequently requires transfer beyond the initial receiving facility, which adds a further institution and sometimes a further region. The practical consequence is that records requests go to each facility separately, each runs on its own timetable, and the treatment history establishing the extent of the injury, the grafting course, and the projected future care sits in more than one place.
Distance also affects the family. Extended treatment away from home carries travel and accommodation costs and time away from work for relatives, and those are recoverable components rather than incidental burdens.
In a negligence claim, an injured person recovers as long as their negligence is not greater than that of the defendants combined. Their percentage reduces the award, and a plaintiff found 51 percent or more at fault recovers nothing (Nelson v. Concrete Supply Co., 303 S.C. 243 (1991)). Whether comparative fault applies to strict liability claims is not answered by the statute or by a controlling appellate decision.
A product claim carries a feature worth knowing. For causes of action arising or accruing after January 1, 2026, a defendant may ask that a tortfeasor who was never sued be placed on the verdict form, if that party is disclosed within 180 days of the start of the case (or later for good cause) and the defendant proves its fault was a proximate cause. Section 15-38-15(H)(4) keeps a nonparty off the verdict form where the causes of action involve strict liability.
A burn case with both a negligence claim and a product claim can therefore be governed differently depending on which theory is being tried, which is a reason to plead deliberately rather than broadly.
| Mechanism | Likely defendant | Governing framework |
|---|---|---|
| Scald from a building water system | Owner, landlord, association, or manager | Premises, invitee or tenant duty |
| Appliance or gas flash fire | Manufacturer, installer, maintenance contractor | Product liability, Section 15-73-10 |
| Vessel fire or explosion | Manufacturer, service yard, operator | Product liability plus negligence |
| Pool or marine chemical | Manufacturer, business storing it, service contractor | Product liability and premises |
| Electrical contact | Contractor, property owner, utility, equipment maker | Premises or product, depending on control |
Burn injuries are among the most expensive to treat and the slowest to resolve. Serious burns involve staged surgery, grafting, extended wound care, infection risk, and contracture release procedures that can continue for years, particularly across joints.
The economic side includes acute treatment, reconstructive procedures, therapy, adaptive equipment, and future care a physician projects rather than a bill that already exists. Lost earning capacity is significant for a working claimant, and for a retired one the equivalent loss is the ability to live independently and to do the things that made up a life.
The noneconomic side covers pain, which in burn treatment is prolonged and severe, along with permanent scarring and disfigurement. South Carolina places no general statutory cap on noneconomic damages in an ordinary injury case.
Punitive damages require clear and convincing evidence of wilful, wanton, or reckless conduct (South Carolina Code of Laws, 15 S.C. Code Ann. § 32-520(D) (2024)). They are generally capped at the greater of three times compensatory damages or $500,000, rising to four times compensatory damages or $2 million where the conduct was motivated primarily by unreasonable financial gain or could subject the defendant to a felony conviction.
The cap does not apply where the defendant intended to cause harm, pled guilty to or was convicted of a felony arising from the conduct, or acted while impaired by alcohol or drugs (South Carolina Code of Laws, 15 S.C. Code Ann. § 32-530 (2024)). The dollar figures are adjusted annually.
An offer made before the reconstructive picture settles is an offer to resolve a claim before anyone knows its size.
The general deadline is three years (South Carolina Code of Laws, 15 S.C. Code Ann. § 3-530(5) (2024)). Where the injury was not apparent, the three years runs from when the person knew or should have known of the claim (South Carolina Code of Laws, 15 S.C. Code Ann. § 3-535 (2024)).
Where the burn arose from the construction of a building rather than its upkeep, Section 15-3-640 bars any action based on the defective or unsafe condition of an improvement to real property more than eight years after substantial completion. In a coastal county with older housing stock, repose reaches wiring and gas installation claims regularly.
A claim against a South Carolina governmental entity must be filed within two years after the loss was or should have been discovered. If a verified claim is filed with the agency within one year, the deadline to sue extends to three years (South Carolina Code of Laws, 15 S.C. Code Ann. §§ 78-80, 78-110 (2024)). Recovery is capped at $300,000 per person and $600,000 per occurrence, and punitive damages are not available (South Carolina Code of Laws, 15 S.C. Code Ann. § 78-120 (2024)).
Under South Carolina Code of Laws, 42 S.C. Code Ann. § 1-560(b) (2024), a third-party action must be commenced within one year after the compensation carrier accepts liability or makes payment under an award. If it is not, the injured worker's right of action passes to the carrier (South Carolina Code of Laws, 42 S.C. Code Ann. § 1-560(c) (2024)). The carrier also holds a lien on any third-party recovery.
Claims belonging to a child receive additional time under South Carolina Code of Laws, 15 S.C. Code Ann. § 3-40 (2024), but how that extension is calculated depends on the child's age and the claim, so the deadline for a child's burn claim should be confirmed as soon as possible.
Where a burn proves fatal, the wrongful death claim must be filed within three years of the date of death (South Carolina Code of Laws, 15 S.C. Code Ann. § 3-530(6) (2024)) by the personal representative. The survival claim is the injured person's own claim and is measured on its own clock, so its deadline should be confirmed early.
The suit is filed in the Georgetown County Court of Common Pleas (Fifteenth Judicial Circuit), 401 Cleland Street, 1st Floor, Room 115, Georgetown, SC 29440. The Clerk of Court handles the filing of new civil cases, judgments, lis pendens, arbitration actions, and attachments.
A minor's settlement is resolved with the court's involvement rather than by private agreement, which matters in burn cases because children are disproportionately represented among scald and contact burn victims and because their claims are frequently held open longest for future care.
No. Under South Carolina Code of Laws, 15 S.C. Code Ann. § 73-10 (2024), the rule applies even where the seller exercised all possible care, and even where you never bought the product from that seller.
South Carolina Code of Laws, 15 S.C. Code Ann. § 73-20 (2024) bars recovery where a user discovers the defect, is aware of the danger, and nevertheless proceeds unreasonably to use the product. That requires actual discovery and awareness.
South Carolina's Residential Landlord and Tenant Act requires a landlord to supply reasonable amounts of hot water and to keep the electrical, gas, plumbing, and heating facilities it supplies in reasonably good and safe working order, unless the hot water comes from an installation under the tenant's exclusive control (South Carolina Code of Laws, 27 S.C. Code Ann. § 40-440(a)(4)-(5) (2024)). Who controlled the water heater, and what the landlord knew, decides who is responsible.
Not usually the employer. Under South Carolina Code of Laws, 42 S.C. Code Ann. § 1-560(b) (2024), a third-party action must be commenced within one year after the compensation carrier accepts liability or makes payment under an award. If it is not, the injured worker's right of action passes to the carrier (South Carolina Code of Laws, 42 S.C. Code Ann. § 1-560(c) (2024)). The carrier also holds a lien on any third-party recovery.
At the Arndt Law firm you pay nothing up front. Consultations are free, and the fee is contingent on recovery.
The Arndt Law Firm works a burn claim from the mechanism outward, because how someone was burned identifies who can be held responsible and which body of law applies. A scald from a building water system, a vessel fuel fire, and a chemical exposure are three different investigations with three different sets of records.
Preserving the item that caused the injury comes first in practice, since appliances and vessel components are repaired or returned for inspection before anyone objects.
Gathering the medical record is the parallel task. It is more involved here than elsewhere, since three hospitals across two counties receive patients from this area before any transfer for specialized care. Matters are filed in the Court of Common Pleas in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit. Attorney Jonathan S. Arndt has been licensed in South Carolina since 2018 and reviews the firm's burn matters.
Burn claims are assessed at no charge, and a fee arises only from a recovery. You can reach the firm through the contact page. Where a burn happened at work, the third-party deadline can run a year from the compensation carrier's first payment, which is considerably shorter than most people are told.
Last reviewed: August 2026
This page was reviewed by Jonathan S. Arndt, licensed in South Carolina since 2018.
Content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Consult a licensed South Carolina attorney for guidance specific to your situation.
