A Florida Keys family that narrowly escaped a Jan. 19 fire and lost their home in the blaze is being bolstered by their community.
“We’re just glad we were there and we and all the other neighbors did what anyone would,” one neighbor, also a principal at a local school, told reporters with Keys Weekly.
The neighbor was with two others when they noticed the smoke at around 10:30 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 19. Since it was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, many schools and offices were closed for the holiday.
The neighbor told reporters that there was so much smoke that he and his companions were worried at first that the house they were in was the one on fire. The trio wasted no time rushing outside where they found the actual source — a home about five houses away where a single father lives with his mother, two sons, and a pet.
When they arrived, another neighbor was “already on the scene, fighting the smoke and flames to find out if anyone was inside,” according to Keys Weekly reporting.
The men were able to coax the boys out of the house and grabbed the dog by his collar to get them to safety before later coming out with the father. The boys’ grandmother was, thankfully, not home at the time.
It did not take long for the community to band together and for a GoFundMe page to be created to help them begin to rebuild. The home was entirely destroyed, according to the fundraising page organized by the father’s employer.
“Please find it in your heart to help this family, a local…one of our own,” organizers said on the page.
Additional details, including a possible cause of the fire, was not immediately available.
Leesfield & Partners
Thankfully, it does not appear that anyone was seriously injured and all inside survived this tragic incident in the Florida Keys. In the U.S., there are an average of 300,000 structure fires that take place each year, causing millions in damages. The most common cause of a house fire in the United States is cooking-related, though anything from disregarding a lit candle to faulty household appliances could cause a potentially dangerous situation. Almost three out of every five fatalities in house fires are in homes that are not equipped with working smoke alarms, according to the National Fire Protection Association.
Fires are not uncommon in Florida, which has a plethora of dried out brush that can make these incidents more likely to spark. In data from the First Street Foundation, Florida has the third-largest number of properties at risk for a fire behind states such as Texas and California, according to 2022 reporting from WINK News.
In Florida, only 330 fire departments reported National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) data in 2022. There are 388 fire departments currently registered with the National Fire Department Registry. The data for that year shows that there were 1.6 deaths per 1,000 fires with 8.9 injuries per 1,000 fires. The national averages for 2022 were recorded as 2.1 deaths and 6.4 injuries per 1,000 fires. Residential structure fires were linked to 4.5 deaths per 1,000 fires in the state and 31 injuries. The national average was 6.1 deaths per 1,000 fires and 19.8 injuries.
Leesfield & Partners has five decades of experience handling explosion, fire, and burn incidents. In that time, the firm has secured numerous record verdicts and settlements, approaching every case with the compassion and tenacity necessary to achieve the best possible outcome for every client. In that time, Leesfield & Partners even had a hand in helping pass state law for carbon monoxide protections after a tragic incident at a Monroe County hotel. The firm has routinely guided tourists, local families, and individuals alike through some of the most complex and tragic injury cases in the state. This work has earned Leesfield & partners both state and national recognition as a trusted legal source and safety advocate.
In Florida, landlords, homeowners, hotels, and others responsible for a property have important legal duties to help keep people safe. Under premises liability law, property owners and managers must maintain their premises in a reasonably safe condition. When a dangerous condition exists, they have a duty of care to repair it within a reasonable time or, at minimum, to warn guests, tenants, and other invitees to the property — such as workers making repairs or conducting inspections — of the potential hazard.
These guests, including residents, invitees to the property, and workers performing inspections or repairs, are owed protection from foreseeable hazards. This duty of care often includes hiring qualified technicians to inspect appliances that may emit carbon monoxide, complying with building and fire codes, and ensuring that the property is properly and safely maintained. When property owners, hotels, or management companies cut corners to save time or money, however, the consequences can be catastrophic — placing guests and other invitees at serious risk of injury or death.
Previous Fire and Burn Injury Cases
Leesfield & Partners has also represented countless families and individuals that have been involved in tragic fire and electrocution incidents. The firm previously handled a case involving the fire deaths of a mother and her two children. The three had become trapped in a blaze that broke out at their rental home, which was caused by a defective electrical outlet. Despite previously notifying their landlord about difficulty opening windows, the issue went unaddressed. On the day of the fire, the mother and children were unable to open the windows to escape and perished.
Trial Attorney Eric Shane secured a multi-million-dollar settlement for a client who was burned in an electrocution case.
In an explosion case that started from a spark aboard a cargo ship, Leesfield & Partners secured a substantial award for clients who were badly burned.
For a couple celebrating their honeymoon, what was meant to be the start of their happy life together soon became a nightmare after an improperly capped pipe caused an explosion at their accommodation. Both were severely burned and, tragically, the wife passed away from her injuries.
The firm secured a multi-million-dollar for the husband in that case.
In an explosion that caused burns, Leesfield & Partners secured a $3.25 million recovery for the injured client.
Leesfield & Partners secured a $2.95 million award for a family who lost their 13-year-old daughter after a TV set caught fire in their home. The manufacturer of the defective television set was named as a defendant in the lawsuit alongside the distributor of a defective smoke alarm and the family’s condominium association, which was named in the lawsuit for safety violations. The father involved in this incident burned over 30% of his body when he tried to rescue his daughter.
A construction site accident that resulted in burns to a Leesfield & partners client resulted in an $862,000 recovery.
In a fire that killed at least one person due to the negligence of a company, Leesfield & Partners secured a $600,00 recovery.
For a patient who was burnt in an operating room due to the negligence of a hospital’s medical staff. Attorneys at the firm secured a $600,000 recovery.
The firm has also handled other cases involving burn injuries to clients including a child who was burned at a neighbor’s home by stew that was cooking on the stove. The child in that case, an 11-year-old boy, sustained second-degree burns to his legs when the improperly installed range tipped forward on him. An investigation by our firm determined that the landlord’s failure to use anti-tip brackets paved the way for the incident to occur.
Leesfield & Partners secured a $300,000 settlement in that case.
Previous Carbon Monoxide Cases
Carbon monoxide is especially dangerous because it can go undetected. The colorless, odorless gas binds to the hemoglobin in blood, inhibiting the body’s ability to carry oxygen. As a person unknowingly breathes it in, they may experience dizziness or confusion with the lack of oxygen and pass out before they are able to call for emergency services. In the U.S., 400 people die from accidental carbon monoxide exposure annually and 140,000 are hospitalized.
One case handled by the firm involves an over $11 million recovery for a woman exposed to carbon monoxide while at a resort.
A student who was visiting a college campus and staying at an accommodation owned by the university had to be hospitalized after being exposed to carbon monoxide as the student slept. In an investigation, attorneys found that there was over 200 ppm inside the house. The maximum carbon monoxide level that is considered “safe” while indoors is 9 ppm over eight hours, according to gas measurement specialists. The cause of the leak in that case was found to be an exhaust pipe in from the house’s furnace.
A confidential settlement was reached in that case.
The firm previously secured an eight-figure settlement on behalf of a couple that was exposed to carbon monoxide while on vacation in a foreign country.
“Every casualty from carbon monoxide poisoning has been unnecessary,” said Ira Leesfield, the firm’s Founder and Managing Partner. “We have successfully represented numerous victims of carbon monoxide poisoning for [50] years and fought hard for the passage of Senate Bill 1822.”