In late October, a fire broke out at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel’s Old Hickory Steakhouse before spreading to a rooftop HVAC unit. The hotel is the largest non-casino hotel outside of Las Vegas in the United States, so a fire could cause several injuries. Fortunately, no one suffered injuries, although one firefighter was treated at the scene for heat-related symptoms.
But what if something went wrong, and the fire spread further? What if someone was burned or hurt by smoke inhalation? What if, Heaven forbid, someone died of suffocation or burn injuries due to a hotel fire?
HOTEL FIRE STATISTICS
The National Fire Protection Association states that there are approximately 3,520 hotel and motel fires in the United States annually. This accounts for 1 percent of all structure fires. These fires result in roughly nine deaths, 120 injuries and $84 million in property damage. Most of these fires start in kitchens, but most fatalities occur due to smoking inside hotels.
PROVING LIABILITY IN HOTEL FIRE INJURIES
To recover damages for hotel fire injuries, a plaintiff must prove that the property owner was negligent in some way. Our law firm can investigate the site of a hotel fire to determine negligence.
There are several ways we can hold a property owner liable for fire injuries. If the owner did not install or maintain an appropriate number of fire alarms, he or she could face liability. If the owner did not maintain boilers, heaters or appliances that cause a fire, he or she could face liability. And if the owner did not address property hazards that made it difficult or impossible for you to escape a fire, the owner can be held liable for those contributing injuries.
2 Corinthians 12:9, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”