Vehicle Fire Burn Injury Lawyer

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

Beverly Law takes crash fire and vehicle defect burn cases in California, Texas and Washington. Our burn injury lawyer page explains how burn depth and skin grafts affect a claim.

How often vehicles catch fire

The U.S. Fire Administration’s most recent topical report on highway vehicle fires, covering 2014 through 2016, estimated these yearly averages (USFA, Highway Vehicle Fires 2014-2016):

The last line is the one that matters most for injury claims. Mechanical failure is the leading factor in starting vehicle fires, but 62% of the deaths come from fires caused by collisions.

Two claims in one crash fire

The driver who caused the collision

A crash fire case usually starts as a negligence claim against the at-fault driver and, when that driver was working, the employer. If you were partly at fault, the three states treat it differently. California reduces your recovery by your share of fault with no cutoff (Li v. Yellow Cab Co.), and so does Washington (RCW 4.22.005). Texas bars recovery if you are found more than 50% responsible (CPRC 33.001).

The vehicle or part maker

A second claim arises when the fire itself points to a defect: a fuel tank or line that ruptured in a moderate crash, a battery pack that ignited, wiring that shorted. California holds manufacturers strictly liable when a defective product injures someone (Greenman v. Yuba Power Products). Washington’s Product Liability Act covers design, manufacturing and warning claims (RCW 7.72.030). In Texas, a design defect claim requires proof of a safer alternative design that would have prevented or significantly reduced the injury and was economically and technologically feasible when the vehicle left the maker’s control (CPRC 82.005). Texas cases are handled by the firm’s Texas-licensed attorneys, Joyce Ondich and John Efstathiou. Our defective product burn page explains these product rules for other items.

The crash and the defect claims are usually brought together, because the driver’s lawyer will blame the vehicle and the manufacturer’s lawyer will blame the driver.

The federal fuel system standard

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 301 exists to “reduce deaths and injuries occurring from fires that result from fuel spillage during and after motor vehicle crashes” (49 CFR 571.301). It applies to passenger cars, multipurpose passenger vehicles, and trucks and buses with a gross vehicle weight rating of 4,536 kg (10,000 pounds) or less that use fuel with a boiling point above 0°C, and to heavier school buses using that kind of fuel.

Manufacturers rely on compliance with federal standards as a defense. In Texas, a maker that shows its design complied with an applicable mandatory federal safety standard gets a rebuttable presumption that it is not liable; the injured person can rebut it by showing the federal standard was inadequate to protect the public or that the maker withheld or misrepresented information from the federal agency (CPRC 82.008). When a fuel system leaks in a crash, the questions are where the tank and lines sat, what shielding they had, and what the maker knew from testing and field reports.

Electric vehicle battery fires

In January 2021 the National Transportation Safety Board reported on four electric vehicle fires involving high-voltage lithium-ion batteries, three of them after high-speed crashes (NTSB, Jan. 13, 2021). The NTSB found that damaged cells can go into thermal runaway, which it described as uncontrolled increases in temperature and pressure, and that the “stranded” energy left in a damaged battery creates risks of shock and reignition. All three crash-damaged batteries reignited after firefighters put out the vehicle fires.

For an injury case, this means two things. A battery fire can start or restart long after the crash, including on the shoulder, at a tow yard or in a garage, so the timeline matters. And the battery pack is the most important piece of evidence. It should be preserved and examined before anyone dismantles or scraps it.

Recalls and older vehicles

Check the vehicle identification number on NHTSA’s recall lookup. NHTSA says that when a safety recall issues, manufacturers are required to fix the problem by repairing, replacing or offering a refund, and that owners can have the recalled part fixed at a dealership for free. A fire-related recall on your vehicle, or on the model, is often the first lead in a defect case.

Age of the vehicle matters in two states. Texas bars most product liability claims against a manufacturer or seller 15 years after the product was sold, with limited exceptions (CPRC 16.012). Washington presumes that harm caused more than 12 years after delivery happened after the product’s useful safe life expired, a presumption that can be rebutted (RCW 7.72.060).

Trucks, tankers and buses

Fires involving commercial trucks can involve federal trucking rules and more defendants, such as the carrier, the shipper or the company that loaded a tanker. A tanker of fuel or chemicals can burn people in other vehicles and bystanders. See our tanker truck accident page and our California truck accident lawyer page. If you were driving for work when the fire happened, the workers’ comp rules on our workplace burn page also apply.

Protect the vehicle

After a crash fire, the burned vehicle usually goes to a tow or salvage yard, and once an insurer declares it a total loss it can be sold or scrapped. Tell your insurer in writing not to release or destroy it. Write down where it was towed. The vehicle’s event data recorder, the fuel system parts and the battery pack all need to be examined before anything is moved or cut apart. We send preservation letters to the tow yard, the insurers and the manufacturer as soon as we are hired.

Talk to a vehicle fire burn lawyer

If you or someone in your family was burned in a car, truck or bus fire in California, Texas or Washington, call Beverly Law at (310) 552-6959. We will work to secure the vehicle and identify everyone responsible for the crash and the fire. 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.