Texas Burn Injury Lawyer

Beverly Law. Updated November 2026.

This page covers the Texas rules that shape burn cases, the state’s burn centers, and the industrial and household hazards behind Texas burns. For burn degrees, skin grafts and how damages are built, see our main burn injury lawyer guide.

Texas burn injury law at a glance

Deadlines for Texas burn cases

Texas gives an injured person two years from the day the cause of action accrues to bring a personal injury suit (CPRC § 16.003). For a burned child, the time before the child turns 18 is not counted (CPRC § 16.001). Product cases have an outer limit too: a products liability action against a manufacturer or seller generally must be filed within 15 years after the defendant sold the product, with exceptions for longer written warranties and some latent diseases (CPRC § 16.012). That matters for burns from older water heaters, space heaters and gas valves.

Claims against Texas governments

The Texas Tort Claims Act lets you sue a government unit in two main situations: injuries arising from an employee’s use of a motor-driven vehicle or equipment, and injuries caused by a condition or use of tangible personal or real property where a private person would be liable (CPRC § 101.021). A burn in a city-owned building or a fire after a crash with a city truck can fit.

Notice has to reach the government unit within six months of the incident, and it must describe the injury, the time and place, and what happened (CPRC § 101.101). City charters can set a shorter notice period, and the Act ratifies those provisions, so check the city’s charter right away. Formal notice is excused when the government unit already had actual notice of the injury. The Act also caps damages: $250,000 per person and $500,000 per occurrence for the state and for cities, and $100,000 per person and $300,000 per occurrence for other local units such as counties (CPRC § 101.023).

The 51% bar on recovery

Texas uses modified comparative fault. A claimant’s damages are reduced by their percentage of responsibility, and a claimant found more than 50% responsible recovers nothing (CPRC § 33.001). That one rule changes how Texas burn cases are defended. In a hot drink spill, a defense lawyer who convinces a jury the customer was 51% at fault ends the case, while in California or Washington the same finding would only cut the award. Evidence of serving temperature, cup and lid design and prior complaints carries extra weight in Texas for that reason.

Exemplary damages and the cap

Texas calls punitive damages exemplary damages. They are available only if the claimant proves by clear and convincing evidence that the harm resulted from fraud, malice or gross negligence (CPRC § 41.003). The award is capped at the greater of $200,000 or two times economic damages plus noneconomic damages up to $750,000 (CPRC § 41.008(b)). The cap does not apply when the conduct is one of the felonies listed in section 41.008(c), such as aggravated assault or injury to a child, elderly or disabled person, committed knowingly or intentionally.

Burned at work in Texas

In Texas, workers’ compensation coverage is generally elective: except for public employers, an employer may choose whether to obtain it (Lab. Code § 406.002). When an employer does carry comp, comp is the exclusive remedy against that employer (Lab. Code § 408.001(a)). The only carve-out lets a worker’s surviving spouse or children recover exemplary damages when the employer’s intentional act or gross negligence caused the worker’s death; it does not open a regular injury suit.

Employers without comp coverage, called nonsubscribers, can be sued for negligence, and they cannot argue that the worker was partly at fault, assumed the risk, or was hurt by a co-worker’s negligence (Lab. Code § 406.033). The worker still must prove the employer was negligent. In 2024, 24% of Texas employers were nonsubscribers and 13% of Texas employees worked for one, according to the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI biennial report). Injured workers can also sue negligent third parties, such as a contractor or equipment maker, whether or not the employer carries comp (Lab. Code § 417.001).

Texas has no OSHA-approved state plan, so private workplaces are under federal OSHA (OSHA state plans). More on refinery and plant burns is on our workplace and refinery burns page.

Rentals, gas and propane

Once a tenant gives notice, a Texas landlord must make a diligent effort to repair a condition that materially affects the physical health or safety of an ordinary tenant, and the same duty covers a failure to keep a device that supplies hot water of at least 120°F in good operating condition (Prop. Code § 92.052). Gas utilities fall under the jurisdiction of the Railroad Commission of Texas (Util. Code § 121.051), which also adopts safety rules for the propane industry (Nat. Res. Code § 113.051). Railroad Commission inspection records can help show what a gas operator knew before a leak.

Texas burn centers

The American Burn Association’s directory lists 13 burn centers in Texas. Six are ABA-verified and seven are listed as other burn centers (ABA directory). The patient types below are the ones each listing shows.

Parkland says it was re-verified as both an adult and pediatric burn center (Parkland), and the Army burn center’s verification was voted by the ABA Verification Review Committee (USAISR). Houston has no ABA-verified burn center in the directory; the closest verified centers to Houston are in Galveston. Street addresses are on our burn center directory.

Texas burn hazards and documented incidents

Refineries and chemical plants. On March 23, 2005, an explosion at the BP Texas City refinery killed 15 people and injured 180, after flammable liquid and vapor escaped from a blowdown drum stack during the startup of an isomerization unit and was ignited by an idling pickup truck (U.S. Chemical Safety Board). On April 2, 2019, leaked isobutylene ignited at the KMCO plant in Crosby; one worker died, two were seriously injured and at least 28 others were hurt (CSB).

Tank farms. The ITC tank farm fire in Deer Park began on March 17, 2019, destroyed fifteen 80,000-barrel tanks, burned for three days and led to a shelter-in-place order for all of Deer Park (CSB). On November 27, 2019, explosions at the TPC Group plant in Port Neches injured two employees and a contractor and forced a mandatory evacuation within four miles (CSB).

Fertilizer storage. On April 17, 2013, about thirty tons of fertilizer-grade ammonium nitrate detonated during a fire at the West Fertilizer Company in West, Texas, killing 15 people and causing more than 260 injuries (CSB).

Gas mains. On February 23, 2018, a natural gas explosion at a house on Espanola Drive in Dallas injured all five people inside, one fatally. The NTSB found the gas leaked from a 71-year-old main and that Atmos Energy’s leak checks on the two prior days did not detect it (NTSB).

Home fires. Death-certificate data compiled by the U.S. Fire Administration counted 327 fire deaths in Texas in 2023, or 10.7 per million residents (USFA). National numbers are on our burn statistics page.

Who handles Texas burn cases at Beverly Law

Texas cases are handled by the firm’s Texas-licensed attorneys, Joyce Ondich and John Efstathiou. We work in English and Spanish, and we advance the costs of the case.

Burn injury pages for Texas cities

• Houston burn injury lawyer
• Dallas burn injury lawyer
• San Antonio burn injury lawyer

Burned in another state? See the California and Washington pages, or our firm’s Texas page for other injury cases.

Talk to a Texas burn injury lawyer

If you were burned in Texas and are not sure whether your employer carries comp or whether a city notice deadline applies, call Beverly Law at (310) 552-6959 for a free, confidential case review in English or Spanish. Texas cases are handled by the firm’s Texas-licensed attorneys, Joyce Ondich and John Efstathiou. 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.