Havre Burn Injury Lawyer | Explosions, Fires & Burns

Havre, MontanaHavre Burn Injury

Havre Burn Injury Lawyers: Grain Dust Explosions, Propane and Gas Fires, Electrical and Chemical Burns on the Hi-Line

Boland Aarab PLLP.

Burn injuries on the Hi-Line tend to come from the work and the weather. There are grain-dust explosions, anhydrous ammonia and fuel on farms, natural gas and propane in the heating season, electrical contact at shops and on power lines, and fires after crashes on US-2. A serious burn usually means transfer far from Havre for specialized care. Montana allows 3 years to file most claims. The physical evidence of a fire can be gone in days.

Burned in a fire, explosion or accident near Havre, or lost someone to one? Contact Boland Aarab PLLP for a free consultation at (406) 315-3737.

What causes serious burns around Havre?

Grain dust. Fine grain dust in elevators, bins and processing facilities is explosive under the wrong conditions. OSHA’s grain handling standard requires dust control, hot-work permits, and preventive maintenance of equipment that can overheat or spark (29 C.F.R. § 1910.272). When a facility or a contractor ignores these rules, workers and bystanders pay for it.

Farm chemicals and fuel. Anhydrous ammonia, used as fertilizer across wheat country, can cause severe chemical burns to the skin, eyes and lungs when a hose, valve or tank fails. On-farm fuel storage, diesel and gasoline are fire risks during fueling and equipment repair.

Natural gas and propane in winter. Long, cold Hi-Line winters mean furnaces, space heaters, propane tanks and gas lines running hard for months. Leaks, faulty connectors and appliances, and gas lines damaged by excavation or frost cause explosions and house fires. The responsible party may be a utility, a propane distributor, an installer, a landlord or a product manufacturer.

Oil and gas work. Flash fires and explosions at wells, compressors and gathering lines in the Tiger Ridge country south of Havre and near Shelby cause some of the most severe burns we see.

Electrical burns. High-voltage contact by farm equipment with overhead lines, work in rail and diesel shops, and faulty wiring all cause electrical burns. An electrical burn can look minor on the skin and still cause serious internal damage (MedlinePlus).

Vehicle fires. A head-on or rear-end crash on US-2 or US-87 can rupture a fuel system. A fuel tanker in the crash makes a fire far more likely.

What happens after a burn injury in Havre?

Treatment. Burn patients are usually seen first at Northern Montana Hospital, which the state’s November 2025 list shows as not a designated trauma facility (DPHHS). Severe burns usually require transfer, first to a higher-level trauma center such as Benefis in Great Falls (ACS Level 2) or the Level 1 centers in Billings, and often on to a regional burn center. That can mean months away from home, repeated surgeries and grafts, and years of scar management.

Investigation. Fire departments, the State Fire Marshal’s office and insurers investigate fires. Insurers often send their own origin-and-cause experts within hours. The appliance, connector, valve or wiring that failed is the most important evidence, and it can be thrown away with the debris. We send preservation letters right away, and we bring in our own fire and electrical experts, with notice to the other parties.

Workplace burns. If the burn happened at work, workers’ comp is generally your only claim against your employer. But you can sue a third party, such as an equipment maker, a gas supplier or another contractor (§ 39-71-412, MCA).

Courts. A Hill County burn case is generally filed in the Twelfth Judicial District Court at the Hill County Courthouse, 315 4th Street (§ 3-5-101, MCA). Cases against out-of-state manufacturers are often heard in the federal Great Falls Division (D. Mont. L.R. 1.2(c)(3)).

Montana law that applies

See our Montana burn injury lawyer page for detail. The essentials:

Sellers of defective, unreasonably dangerous products can be held strictly liable (§ 27-1-719, MCA).
Damages include future harm “certain to result,” which covers future surgeries and scar care (§ 27-1-203, MCA).
Most claims must be filed within 3 years (§ 27-2-204, MCA).

Why hire a Great Falls firm for a Havre case?

Burn cases are won with physical evidence and experts. We are based in Great Falls and handle cases statewide, and we get to Hi-Line fire scenes and to inspections of evidence quickly. We travel to Havre for client meetings, depositions and court, and we stay in touch with families while a patient is treated far from home. We do not have a Havre office.

The Boland Aarab Way

We know federal court, where most product cases end up. Our attorneys have handled more than 40 cases in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana over nine years.
We try cases. Our attorneys have spent more than 4,000 hours in the courtroom, and the firm has tried jury trials in Phillips County on the Hi-Line.
We appeal when it’s needed. Samir Aarab has argued twice before the Ninth Circuit, and the Boland Aarab appellate record reaches back to 1977.
We belong to the trial bar. Both attorneys belong to AAJ and MTLA.

Frequently Asked Questions

I was burned in a grain elevator explosion near Havre. Who is responsible? Your employer is usually covered by workers’ comp. But the facility owner, an equipment maker, or a contractor doing hot work may be responsible if they ignored dust-control or hot-work rules.

Our house exploded because of a gas leak. Who can we sue? Possibly the utility or propane supplier, the installer, the maker of a defective appliance or connector, or a landlord. Preserving the failed component is critical, so don’t let anyone remove it without notice.

I was burned by anhydrous ammonia on the farm. Do I have a claim? If a defective hose, valve or tank, or a supplier’s negligence, caused the release, possibly. The equipment should be preserved and inspected before it is repaired or returned.

Why was I sent so far from Havre for burn treatment? Severe burns need specialized care that small hospitals don’t provide. The costs of that care and travel, including your family’s, are part of the damages.

How soon should I call a lawyer after a fire? As soon as possible. Insurers investigate fires within hours, and debris is cleared fast. The 3-year deadline is much longer than the evidence will last.

Contact Boland Aarab PLLP for a free consultation at (406) 315-3737.

Our attorneys: Caitlin Boland Aarab · Samir F. Aarab

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.