Bakersfield Burn Injury Lawyer

By Michael Shemtoub, trial attorney, Beverly Law. Updated November 2026.

That closure changes where a Kern County burn patient is treated and how far the family travels, and it shows up in the damages. This page also covers oil field fires and where a Kern County case is filed. Burn degrees and skin grafts are explained in our burn injury lawyer guide, and statewide law is on the California burn injury page.

The Grossman Burn Center closure

Dignity Health posted a public notice that the Grossman Burn Center at 420 34th Street, Bakersfield, “will be closing as of June 30, 2026,” including its seven-bed inpatient burn unit and its outpatient burn clinic (Dignity Health notice; Dignity Health burn care page). Bakersfield Memorial said it decided not to renew its contract with the center after consistently low patient volumes, and that its emergency department would continue to give immediate burn care. The Bakersfield Californian described the Grossman center as the only emergency facility in Kern County specifically designated to receive burn victims (The Bakersfield Californian, Feb. 26, 2026).

Nurses who protested the closure warned that “the closest care would be about 100 miles away,” at the burn unit in Fresno (23ABC, May 1, 2026). The center was not ABA-verified: the state’s December 2025 list showed it as designated locally, and it no longer appears in the American Burn Association’s directory (California EMSA list; ABA directory).

What this means for a claim: a Bakersfield patient with a serious burn is more likely to be stabilized locally and then transferred out of the county. Transfers, travel for follow-up surgery and family lodging are real costs, and they belong in the damages claim along with the medical bills.

Where Bakersfield burn patients are treated now

Sources: California EMSA trauma center list, Aug. 2025; 23ABC, May 13, 2026; ABA directory; The Bakersfield Californian. The American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma re-verified Kern Medical’s trauma center in 2026, according to 23ABC. Our burn center directory has addresses for every verified center.

Oil field burns in Kern County

Kern County holds 76% of California’s oil-producing wells, according to a 2022 Kern Economic Development Corporation report cited by 23ABC (23ABC, Nov. 8, 2023). Oil field work means steam, crude, gas and heavy equipment, and fires happen.

On September 17, 2025, a vacuum truck caught fire in the Elk Hills oil field near Tupman while a contractor was working on above-ground services for California Resources Corporation. The fire spread to about 12 acres of grass, and the driver was taken to a local hospital (KMPH). In February 2007, explosions at an oil field in Taft injured at least four workers, and authorities said one of them was airlifted to a hospital with second- and third-degree burns (FireRescue1).

When several companies work side by side on one lease, more than one of them may share responsibility for a fire. A workers’ compensation claim against your own employer does not stop you from suing another company whose negligence caused the burn, such as a different contractor on the same site or the maker of equipment that failed (Cal. Labor Code § 3852). Those third-party claims are explained on our workplace and refinery burns page.

Fires in the city of Bakersfield

Vacant building fires in Bakersfield have climbed fast: 87 in 2022, 129 in 2023 and 189 in 2024 as of late October, according to the Bakersfield Fire Department’s figures. More than 500 fires were investigated in the first ten months of 2024, and 287 were found to be arson, 23ABC reported (23ABC, Oct. 28, 2024).

A fire set by a third party does not always end the inquiry. When a vacant building next to an apartment or business is left open, the owner’s failure to secure it can be part of the case. Our apartment fires page explains landlord and owner liability. Scalds at home and in restaurants are covered on our scald burns page; the American Burn Association’s table shows liquid at 140°F can cause a third-degree burn in about five seconds (ABA scald guide).

Where a Bakersfield burn case is filed

The Kern County Superior Court says claims seeking more than $35,000 are filed at the Metropolitan Justice Courthouse, and its civil page lists the Metro Justice Building at 1215 Truxtun Avenue in downtown Bakersfield (Kern County Superior Court, Civil). The court has also assigned unlimited civil cases to a courtroom at its Metropolitan Traffic Division, 3131 Arrow Street, under a 2023 standing order (Kern standing order, April 2023). Confirm the courtroom on your case notice.

Beverly Law also handles store and premises injuries in the city; see our Bakersfield slip and fall page.

Talk to a Bakersfield burn injury attorney

If a burn in Bakersfield, Taft, Tupman or elsewhere in Kern County sent you or your child to Fresno or Los Angeles for care, call Beverly Law at (310) 552-6959 for a free, confidential review in English or Spanish. We can talk by phone or video while you are still in the hospital. You owe no fees or costs unless we win.

Common questions

Related pages

Burn Injury Lawyer

Important: This page is general information, not legal or medical advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different; talk to a lawyer about yours. Texas cases are handled by the firm’s Texas-licensed attorneys, Joyce Ondich and John Efstathiou. Last reviewed: November 6, 2026.