A serious burn can change a life in an instant. The physical pain, the strain of multiple surgeries, and the long road to recovery touch every part of a person’s life. In Summerville, if someone else’s carelessness caused a burn, South Carolina law gives you the right to seek a full recovery for everything you’ve lost. Burn cases are complex; getting the proof, showing what really happened, and holding the right party accountable is critical.
At The Arndt Law Firm, we help burn survivors and their families throughout Summerville and the Lowcountry. Here’s what you need to know about your legal options and what to expect in a burn injury case.
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. Apartment and rental fires caused by faulty wiring, missing or non-functional smoke detectors, or other landlord failures are a recurring source of serious burns. 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 Summerville car accident lawyer page.
Scald and contact burns are common in other settings. Defective water heaters, scalding tap water, hot surfaces, and industrial equipment cause burns when they are not properly maintained or guarded, and these often arise 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, and electrical burns follow contact with faulty wiring, exposed conductors, or unsafe equipment.
Each cause points toward different responsible parties and different bodies of law. A burn caused by a dangerous property condition may support a premises-liability claim when the person responsible for the property owed and breached an applicable duty and that breach caused the injury. Defective products and vehicle crashes are evaluated under their own legal standards. 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, trace 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 the foundation on which the entire claim is built.
Summerville spans both Dorchester and Charleston Counties, so the proper court depends on where the burn injury occurred. A case arising on the Dorchester County side may proceed in the First Judicial Circuit at the Dorchester County Courthouse in St. George (5200 E. Jim Bilton Blvd., St. George, SC 29477), while a case arising on the Charleston County side may proceed in the Ninth Judicial Circuit at the Charleston County Courthouse in Charleston (100 Broad St., Charleston, SC 29401).
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 Summerville area are treated through the region's trauma and burn-care resources, with the critically injured taken to Trident Medical Center in North Charleston, the area's Level II trauma center, and the most catastrophic cases going to MUSC Health University Medical Center in Charleston. 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, while 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. Because the medical severity of a burn is measured along several axes at once, the documentation of each is important both to the survivor's care and to establishing the full scope of the harm.
South Carolina follows modified comparative negligence. Under Nelson v. Concrete Supply Co., an injured person may recover if they are 50 percent or less at fault, although their percentage of fault reduces the award. Recovery is barred at 51 percent or more. 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. In product cases especially, a person who used an item as it was intended has a strong position, because the law asks whether the product was unreasonably dangerous, not whether the user was perfectly careful.
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.
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.
Punitive damages may be available when clear and convincing evidence shows that the defendant’s conduct was willful, wanton, or reckless. They are generally capped at the greater of three times compensatory damages or $500,000, subject to statutory exceptions under South Carolina Punitive Damages Cap, S.C. Code Ann. § 15-32-530 (2023).
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.
A defective product may support a strict-products-liability claim under the South Carolina Products Liability Act, S.C. Code Ann. § 15-73-10 (2023), when the requirements are met, including that the defendant was engaged in selling the product and that it reached the user without substantial change. Separate statutory defenses may also apply under S.C. Code Ann. § 15-73-20 (2023). A defective heater, a flammable garment, or a faulty appliance points toward the chain of parties that put it into commerce.
When a burn occurred on property, the owner may be liable under premises law for a hazard they should have addressed, a framework detailed on our Summerville premises liability lawyer page.
South Carolina requires smoke detectors in covered rental dwellings and places specified installation and repair duties on owners. However, the smoke-detector statute expressly provides that a violation does not itself create a negligence or negligence-per-se cause of action, so liability must be analyzed under any independently applicable duty and the surrounding facts.
A landlord 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 can share responsibility depending on the facts. For a work-related burn, workers’ compensation is generally the exclusive remedy against the employer. A separate civil claim may still exist against a negligent third party, such as a contractor, manufacturer, or other non-employer responsible for the injury. 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.
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 cost of the future surgeries, therapy, specialized garments, assistive devices, and ongoing treatment a survivor will need, and an economic analysis 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 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.
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.
For the survivor and their family, a few steps in the aftermath help protect both health and any claim. The overriding priority is appropriate medical care, because serious burns carry a high risk of infection and complications and require specialized treatment. Beyond that, preserving the cause of the burn is the key concern, and it often falls to family members when the injured person cannot act: keeping any product involved exactly as it is rather than discarding or repairing it, retaining photographs of the scene and conditions, and noting any fire department or official reports.
Avoiding recorded statements to insurers before understanding one's rights, and keeping a thorough file of medical records and expenses, round out the steps that protect a claim while the survivor focuses on recovery. Because the evidence that establishes the cause can be lost or altered quickly, seeking advice early allows it to be preserved while the claim is evaluated.
| Burn cause | Likely responsible party | Governing framework |
| Defective product (heater, appliance, garment) | Manufacturer, distributor, retailer | Product liability |
| Fire or hazard on 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 |
Burns from fires, explosions, defective products, scalding water, chemicals, or electrical hazards can support a claim when another party's negligence or a defective product caused the injury.
Depending on the cause, a manufacturer, property owner, landlord, driver, contractor, or utility may be liable. Many burn cases involve more than one responsible party.
Severe burns require intensive, prolonged, and expensive care, and they leave lasting scarring, disfigurement, and pain, all of which the law recognizes as compensable.
Generally, three years from the injury under South Carolina Statute of Limitations, S.C. Code Ann. § 15-3-530(5) (2023). Claims against South Carolina governmental entities generally must be commenced within two years. A claimant who files a verified claim within one year may have up to three years to commence the lawsuit.
Yes, as long as you were 50 percent or less at fault. Your recovery is reduced by your percentage, and barred at 51 percent or more.
At The Arndt Law Firm, we know how overwhelming a serious burn injury can be. When you come to us, we start by listening to your story and working to get all the facts: how the burn happened, who was involved, and what needs to be done to protect your rights. We fight to make sure every responsible party is identified, the evidence is preserved, and every part of your recovery, medical, financial, and personal is accounted for.
Attorney Jonathan Arndt brings experience from both sides of these cases and is committed to helping burn survivors get the answers, support, and guidance they need.
If you or someone you love suffered a serious burn in Summerville or anywhere in the tri-county Lowcountry, acting early protects the scene and product evidence that establishes how the injury happened, which can be lost or altered within days.
The consultation is free; burn injury cases are handled on a contingency basis with no fee unless there is a recovery, and the evidence that proves cause and liability is most available right after the injury. Reach out through our contact page to discuss what happened, and see how these rules apply across the state 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.
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.
