Kalispell, MontanaKalispell Burn Injury
Kalispell Burn Injury Lawyers: Fire, Explosion, Propane and Electrical Burns in the Flathead Valley
Boland Aarab PLLP.
A serious burn injury in Kalispell can support a claim against whoever caused the fire or explosion: a negligent company, a property owner, or the maker of a defective product. Montana applies strict liability to unreasonably dangerous products. Most claims must be filed within three years, but fire-scene evidence can be gone within days.
Burned in a fire, explosion or electrical accident in the Flathead Valley? Contact Boland Aarab PLLP for a free consultation at (406) 315-3737.
What causes serious burns in the Flathead Valley?
The valley’s economy, climate and housing create particular burn risks.
- Industrial fires and explosions. Wood-products plants handle fine dust, dryers, presses and thermal oil systems. In February 2025 an explosion and fire at the Weyerhaeuser MDF plant in Columbia Falls blew walls out of the building. No one was injured, but it shows what these facilities contain. Welding, cutting and hot work on construction sites are frequent causes of workplace burns.
- Propane and heating. Many homes and businesses outside city limits heat with propane, fuel oil or wood. Leaking lines, faulty regulators and appliances, improper installation, and delivery errors can cause explosions and flash fires. Wood stoves and chimney fires are a winter hazard across the valley.
- Electrical injuries. Line work, tree work near power lines, construction and storm damage bring people into contact with energized equipment. Electrical burns can look small on the skin and still cause deep internal damage.
- Wildfire season. Northwest Montana’s fire seasons threaten homes, crews and people living where town meets forest. Some fires are caused by negligence: equipment sparks, unattended burns or power-line failures.
- Vehicle fires. A crash on US-2 or US-93 involving a fuel tanker, or a vehicle with a defective fuel system, can cause severe burns.
- Products. Space heaters, lithium-ion batteries in e-bikes and tools, pressure cookers, and camp stoves and fuel canisters used on trips into Glacier and the national forests.
What happens after a burn injury in Kalispell?
Emergency and burn-center care. Burn patients in the Flathead are typically treated first at Logan Health Medical Center in Kalispell or Logan Health – Whitefish, sometimes after a flight by Logan Health’s air-ambulance program, long known as A.L.E.R.T. Patients with severe burns are often transferred to a verified regional burn center. The UW Medicine Regional Burn Center at Harborview in Seattle serves Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. That means months of treatment, surgeries and rehabilitation far from home, and travel costs for the family, all of which belong in the damages claim.
The fire investigation. Local fire departments (Kalispell, Whitefish, Columbia Falls and the rural districts) respond. The State Fire Marshal or insurance investigators may investigate the cause. For a workplace fire, OSHA may investigate. Insurers often hire their own origin-and-cause experts within days, and the scene may be cleared or rebuilt soon after. We work to:
- send preservation letters to property owners, insurers and manufacturers;
- secure the appliance, battery, fitting or equipment that failed;
- bring in our own qualified fire-cause and engineering experts.
Court. A case against a local property owner, contractor or business is filed in the Eleventh Judicial District Court at the Flathead County Justice Center, 920 South Main Street, Kalispell. Product manufacturers and utilities based outside Montana often remove cases to the federal Missoula Division. A burn injury on the job usually means a workers’ comp claim against the employer and a separate lawsuit against any negligent third party, such as an equipment maker, a propane supplier or another contractor.
Montana law that applies
In brief; our Montana burn injury lawyer page has the detail.
- Strict product liability: sellers of defective, unreasonably dangerous products can be held strictly liable (§ 27-1-719, MCA).
- Negligence and premises: owners and operators must use ordinary care (§ 27-1-701, MCA).
- Workplace burns: third-party claims survive workers’ comp (§ 39-71-412, MCA).
- Damages: future surgeries, scarring and disfigurement, and loss of earning capacity are recoverable (§§ 27-1-202, 27-1-203, MCA). Punitive damages may be available for actual malice (§ 27-1-221, MCA).
- Deadline: 3 years for most claims (§ 27-2-204, MCA).
Why hire a Great Falls firm for a Kalispell case?
We are based in Great Falls and handle burn and explosion cases statewide. Our attorneys travel to Kalispell for scene inspections, client meetings, depositions and hearings, and to Missoula for federal court. When a client is being treated out of state, we come to them.
The Boland Aarab Way
- We move fast on evidence and prepare every case for trial. Our attorneys have spent more than 4,000 hours in the courtroom.
- We litigate against corporate defendants in federal court: more than 40 cases in the District of Montana over nine years.
- We protect verdicts on appeal: see our appellate record.
- We are part of the trial bar: AAJ and MTLA members. Caitlin Boland Aarab serves on the MTLA Board.
We also handle workplace injury cases in Kalispell and catastrophic injury cases in Kalispell. See our Kalispell personal injury page.
Contact Boland Aarab PLLP for a free consultation at (406) 315-3737.
Frequently Asked Questions
My propane heater exploded at our home outside Kalispell. Who can be responsible? Possibly the manufacturer, the installer, or the propane supplier if a delivery or service error contributed. Keep the appliance and don’t let anyone discard it.
I was flown to Seattle for burn treatment. Can my case still be handled in Montana? Yes. If the fire happened in Flathead County, the case can generally be filed there or in federal court in Missoula, wherever you are being treated.
I was burned at work in the Flathead. Can I sue? You can’t usually sue your employer, but you can pursue workers’ comp and a separate case against a negligent third party, such as an equipment maker or another contractor.
Can I sue over a wildfire that burned my home and injured me? If someone’s negligence started the fire, possibly. Equipment, power lines and unattended burns are examples. Claims against public entities require written notice.
How soon should I contact a lawyer after a fire? As soon as you can. Fire scenes are cleaned up and rebuilt quickly, and the evidence of what caused the fire goes with them.
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.
