New York City Fire & Explosion Injury Lawyer

Fire and explosion injuries are among the most catastrophic events a person can survive. The physical damage, burns that require multiple surgeries, blast trauma, smoke inhalation damage to the lungs, permanent scarring, and the psychological aftermath can reshape every aspect of a victim’s life. A New York City fire and explosion injury lawyer helps survivors and their families pursue full accountability when negligence, defective products, or dangerous conditions caused the blaze or detonation that changed everything. These cases are not simple insurance negotiations. They involve complex liability chains, technical expert testimony, and defendants who move quickly to protect themselves.

New York City’s built environment creates conditions that fire and explosion injury cases arise from with troubling regularity. Aging residential buildings in the Bronx and Brooklyn, gas lines running beneath streets that predate modern safety codes, construction sites operating under compressed schedules, and commercial kitchens throughout Manhattan all generate documented risks. When those risks materialize into injuries because someone cut corners, failed to inspect, or ignored a known hazard, the people who pay the price deserve legal representation that can match the resources of property owners, insurers, manufacturers, and municipalities.

At Mark David Shirian P.C., attorneys Mark D. Shirian and Shawn D. Shirian represent seriously injured New Yorkers and the families of those killed in fire and explosion incidents. The firm was founded in 2016 with one goal: to help those who have been wronged. That focus shapes how fire and explosion cases are handled from the first case evaluation through final resolution.

What Causes Fire and Explosion Injuries in New York City

Identifying the source of a fire or explosion, and tracing that source to a specific act of negligence or a defective product, is the core challenge in these cases. New York’s density creates overlapping causes and multiple potentially liable parties. Understanding the common origins helps survivors recognize what actually happened and what legal claims may be available to them.

• Gas leaks and natural gas explosions: Faulty gas lines, improperly maintained appliances, and utility company failures have caused fatal building explosions across New York City. When landlords neglect gas infrastructure or utility providers fail to respond to reported odors, the consequences can be devastating for entire blocks of residents.
• Electrical fires and building code violations: Overloaded panels, outdated wiring in older buildings, and landlord failures to maintain electrical systems in compliance with the New York City Fire Code and the Building Code create fire hazards that tenants have no ability to detect or correct on their own.
• Construction site explosions and fires: New York City is one of the most active construction markets in the country. Welding, cutting, storage of flammable materials, and pressurized equipment on job sites generate risks that are governed by strict OSHA standards and city regulations. When contractors ignore safety protocols, workers and bystanders are exposed to explosion and burn hazards.
• Defective appliances and consumer products: Lithium-ion battery fires, defective heaters, and malfunctioning gas appliances that trace to a manufacturing defect or a failure to warn open product liability claims against manufacturers, distributors, and retailers separate from any negligence claim against a landlord or employer.
• Restaurant and commercial kitchen fires: Grease fires, propane equipment failures, and inadequate suppression systems in commercial kitchens throughout New York City injure workers and, in some cases, customers and neighboring occupants when fires spread.
• Chemical and industrial explosions: Facilities handling flammable chemicals, pressurized tanks, and industrial solvents operate across New York’s outer boroughs. Improper storage, missing safety signage, and inadequate training create conditions where a single ignition source causes catastrophic harm.
• Landlord negligence and failure to maintain sprinkler systems: New York law imposes specific duties on building owners to maintain fire suppression systems, smoke detectors, and fire escapes. When a fire spreads farther than it should because a sprinkler system was broken or a detector had no working battery, the landlord can bear direct liability for the harm that results.

What to Do After a Fire or Explosion Injury in New York

The hours and days following a fire or explosion are chaotic, painful, and disorienting. But the decisions made in that window have real consequences for the legal claims that follow. The most important priority is medical treatment. Burn injuries require specialized care, and smoke inhalation damage can be deceptive, presenting as mild initially while serious lung damage develops over days. New York-Presbyterian, Weill Cornell Medicine’s burn unit, and other major hospital systems in the city treat serious burn and blast trauma, and the medical records generated during that treatment become critical evidence in a legal claim.

Once you are stable, preserving evidence is essential. Fire scenes are often cleaned up quickly, sometimes within days, especially in residential buildings where the landlord controls access. An attorney who handles New York City fire and explosion injury cases can send a legal preservation notice to property owners, landlords, and other responsible parties, compelling them to retain physical evidence, maintenance records, inspection logs, and surveillance footage before it disappears. Photographs taken at the scene, witness contact information, and any communications you received about building conditions prior to the incident should all be documented and saved.

Fire and explosion injury claims in New York are subject to statutes of limitations that vary depending on the type of defendant. Claims against private landlords or property owners, product manufacturers, and employers each carry different deadlines. Claims against a government agency or municipality, such as a public utility or the New York City Housing Authority, require a Notice of Claim to be filed within 90 days of the incident. Missing that 90-day window can permanently eliminate certain legal claims. This is why connecting with a fire and explosion injury attorney in New York City promptly matters, not because of pressure, but because evidence disappears and legal deadlines are real.

The New York City Fire Department (FDNY) investigates fire scenes and generates incident reports and cause-of-fire determinations. Obtaining those records is an early step in building a claim. The New York City Department of Buildings maintains inspection records, violation histories, and permit data for properties across the five boroughs, and that data often reveals a documented pattern of neglect before a fire ever occurs.

Do not give recorded statements to any insurance company, whether the building owner’s insurer or your own, without speaking to an attorney first. Insurance adjusters begin their investigation immediately after a fire or explosion. Their job is to limit the amount the insurer pays, and statements made in the early aftermath of trauma, when the full picture of injuries and damages is still unclear, can be used to undercut your claim later.

Damages Available in New York City Fire and Explosion Injury Cases

The scope of a fire or explosion injury claim reflects the totality of what was lost, not just the immediate medical bills. Serious burn injuries often require multiple surgeries, long-term wound care, skin grafting procedures, and years of physical and psychological rehabilitation. A fire and explosion attorney serving New York City will evaluate every category of recoverable harm from the beginning of a case.

Medical expenses include everything from emergency treatment and surgery through follow-up care, specialist consultations, prosthetics if amputation was necessary, and future medical costs that can extend for decades. Lost income covers wages missed during recovery and, in cases of permanent disability, the full projected loss of future earning capacity. Pain and suffering damages address the physical anguish of severe burns and blast injuries, which rank among the most painful experiences documented in medical literature. Disfigurement and scarring carry their own category of compensation under New York law, recognizing that permanent changes to a person’s appearance carry lasting psychological harm beyond the physical pain.

When a fire or explosion kills someone, surviving family members may have claims under New York’s wrongful death statute. Those claims can include the economic contributions the deceased would have made to the family, the cost of funeral and burial expenses, and in some cases conscious pain and suffering experienced before death.

New York City fire and explosion claims frequently involve multiple liable parties. A landlord who failed to maintain gas lines, a contractor whose work created the ignition source, a product manufacturer whose appliance started the fire, and a property management company that ignored reported hazards can all bear liability simultaneously. Identifying every potentially responsible party and ensuring each is properly pursued is one of the most valuable things a New York fire injury attorney does in these cases.

Why Mark David Shirian P.C. Handles These Cases the Way It Does

Mark David Shirian P.C. was built to help individuals who have been seriously harmed and who need legal representation that genuinely invests in their case. The firm has recovered millions on behalf of clients across New York and approaches injury cases with the kind of individualized attention that allows attorneys to understand each client’s goals before charting a course forward.

Clients who have worked with the firm describe attorneys Mark D. Shirian and Shawn D. Shirian as compassionate, responsive, and hard-working, people who pay close attention to the details that matter and keep clients informed throughout the process. In fire and explosion cases, that attention to detail has direct consequences. These cases require sifting through inspection records, tracking maintenance histories, coordinating with engineering and fire causation experts, and countering well-resourced defense teams representing landlords and insurers. The firm treats every client’s situation with the seriousness it deserves, because the stakes, health, finances, and futures, are real.

The firm’s approach is assertive when assertiveness is what the situation requires, and strategic when strategy serves the client’s best outcome. That combination matters in litigation against defendants who have legal teams working to minimize exposure from day one.

Questions About Fire and Explosion Injury Claims in New York City

Who can be held responsible for a fire or explosion injury in New York City?

Liability depends on the cause of the incident. Building owners and landlords can be held responsible when the fire resulted from neglected maintenance, code violations, or failure to maintain fire suppression systems. Product manufacturers can face liability when a defective appliance or device ignited. Contractors bear responsibility when construction negligence created the hazardous condition. Utility companies may be liable when gas line failures contributed to an explosion. In many cases, more than one party shares responsibility, and pursuing each of them is part of building a complete claim.

How long do I have to file a fire injury lawsuit in New York?

The general statute of limitations for personal injury claims in New York is three years from the date of injury. However, if any government entity is involved, including the New York City Housing Authority or a public utility, a Notice of Claim must be filed within 90 days of the incident before a lawsuit can proceed. Wrongful death claims carry a two-year limitations period running from the date of death. These deadlines are not flexible. Missing them typically ends the ability to pursue compensation entirely.

What if I was a tenant in the building where the fire occurred?

Tenants are among the most common fire injury victims in New York City, and they have the same legal rights as any other injured party. Your landlord owes you a legally enforceable duty to maintain the building in a safe and code-compliant condition. If that duty was breached and the breach caused your injuries, a claim against the landlord is available regardless of what your lease says. Lease clauses that attempt to waive tenant rights to compensation for landlord negligence are generally unenforceable under New York law.

Can I still recover compensation if I have no health insurance covering my burn treatment?

Yes. Compensation in a fire injury lawsuit includes the full cost of medical treatment related to the incident. The absence of health insurance does not limit what you can seek in a legal claim. Your attorney can work with medical providers on a treatment plan that accounts for your pending legal recovery. Many serious burn injury victims in New York receive the care they need while their legal case proceeds, with compensation covering those costs when the case resolves.

What if the fire marshal determined the fire was accidental? Does that prevent a lawsuit?

No. A fire marshal’s determination of accidental cause addresses the question of criminal intent, not civil liability. An accidental fire can still be the product of negligence. A landlord who accidentally allowed a gas line to fall into disrepair, or a contractor who accidentally misconnected fuel equipment, may still be civilly liable even if no crime was committed. The civil legal standard requires showing that someone’s failure to exercise reasonable care contributed to the harm, which is a separate and different question from arson or criminal conduct.

What kind of expert witnesses are typically used in fire and explosion injury cases?

These cases almost always require technical expert testimony. Fire causation experts, also called fire investigators, analyze the burn patterns, ignition sources, and fuel sources to reconstruct how a fire started and spread. Structural engineers may testify about whether building systems met applicable codes. Medical experts document the nature and permanence of burn and blast injuries. Economists calculate future lost earning capacity. Life care planners project the cost of long-term medical needs. Building code experts assess whether the owner met required maintenance and inspection standards. The quality of expert selection and preparation directly affects case outcomes.

What if I was injured in a fire at my workplace in New York City?

A workplace fire injury in New York City can generate both a workers’ compensation claim and a separate personal injury lawsuit, depending on the circumstances. Workers’ compensation covers medical expenses and a portion of lost wages but caps recoverable damages and does not allow recovery for pain and suffering. If the fire was caused by a third party, such as a product manufacturer, a subcontractor, or a property owner separate from your employer, a civil lawsuit against that third party runs parallel to and independent of the workers’ compensation claim. An attorney can analyze both avenues and identify which combination produces the best overall outcome.

My family member died in a fire. What claims does the family have?

Under New York’s wrongful death statute, the personal representative of the deceased’s estate can bring a claim on behalf of surviving family members. Recoverable damages include the financial support the deceased would have provided over their expected lifetime, the conscious pain and suffering experienced between the start of the fire and death, and funeral and burial expenses. Separately, close family members may have a claim for loss of the deceased’s companionship and services under certain circumstances. An attorney who handles fire fatality cases in New York City can walk surviving family members through both frameworks and what each covers.

How is a fire explosion injury claim different from a standard car accident case?

The liability analysis is considerably more complex. A car accident case typically involves one or two drivers and straightforward insurance coverage. A fire or explosion case may involve a landlord, a property manager, a building contractor, a product manufacturer, a utility company, and potentially a municipality, each with separate legal counsel and separate insurance carriers. The evidence is more technical, requiring forensic fire investigation rather than accident reconstruction. The injuries are often more severe and long-term, requiring more detailed medical expert testimony. And the range of legal theories, premises liability, product liability, labor law, building code violations, is wider.

Does New York City’s building age affect my case?

Older buildings carry older infrastructure, and in New York City, a significant portion of the residential housing stock was built before modern electrical and gas safety codes. That age does not excuse a landlord from the obligation to bring systems into compliance or maintain them in safe condition. In fact, a long history of documented violations or deferred maintenance in an older building can strengthen a negligence claim by demonstrating that the landlord was on notice of the hazardous conditions long before the fire occurred. Department of Buildings records often reveal this history in detail.

Fire and Explosion Injury Representation Across New York City and the Surrounding Region

Mark David Shirian P.C. represents fire and explosion injury victims throughout New York City and across New York State. In Manhattan, the firm serves clients from the Upper West Side, Upper East Side, Harlem, East Harlem, Washington Heights, Inwood, Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen, Midtown, the Financial District, and Lower Manhattan. In Brooklyn, the firm handles cases arising from incidents in Bushwick, Bed-Stuy, Crown Heights, East New York, Brownsville, Flatbush, Sunset Park, Bay Ridge, Williamsburg, and Greenpoint. In the Bronx, the firm represents residents from the South Bronx, Hunts Point, Morrisania, Fordham, Tremont, and Riverdale. Queens clients from Jamaica, Flushing, Astoria, Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, Corona, Ozone Park, and Far Rockaway have access to the same representation. Staten Island residents across St. George, Stapleton, and the Island’s residential communities are also served. Beyond the five boroughs, the firm handles fire and explosion injury cases for clients in Westchester County, Nassau County, Suffolk County, and other communities across New York State.

Contact a New York City Fire Explosion Attorney at Mark David Shirian P.C.

Fire and explosion injuries leave survivors with urgent medical needs, financial strain, and questions that deserve real answers. A New York City fire explosion attorney at Mark David Shirian P.C. can evaluate what happened, identify who bears responsibility, and pursue the full compensation that the facts of the case support. Attorneys Mark D. Shirian and Shawn D. Shirian are available to conduct a confidential case evaluation, so call today to get started.