A fire that starts in one apartment can spread to others, and its cause can stay hidden unless someone investigates. We help burn survivors in Colorado Springs find out who may be responsible and document what they lost, working from our office in Denver.
No fee unless we winIt's More Than Money.
Picture a smoke alarm that stayed silent, a hallway that filled with smoke, and a burn on your arms from pushing through a doorway to get your family out. Afterward come the questions: whether the landlord kept the building safe, who pays for the hospital, and whether you need a Colorado Springs burn injury lawyer at all. Colorado law speaks to each of those.
You're welcome to explain your situation on our contact page or talk with CGH Injury Lawyers by calling (303) 209-9395.
The rules that apply depend on where and how the burn happened.
An apartment fire can grow out of a building problem: an electrical panel that overheated, a dryer vent packed with lint, a smoke detector with no battery, or a fire door propped open for months. Unsafe conditions like these are judged under Colorado's premises statute, C.R.S. 13-21-115, and its definition of a landowner is broad enough to include a landlord in charge of the building. The court decides from the facts whether a tenant is an invitee or a licensee. A tenant who is an invitee can generally recover for dangers the owner either knew about or should have known about, while licensees generally must prove actual knowledge.
A scooter battery charging overnight, a portable heater tipped against a couch, and a gas range with a faulty valve. Colorado defines a product liability action to include claims against a maker or seller on any legal theory, so one lawsuit can rest on strict liability and negligence together (C.R.S. 13-21-401(2)). The strict liability part asks whether the item was defective and whether that defect led to your burn.
A vehicle fire after a collision can leave burns on top of the crash injuries. That burn can be part of a claim against a driver whose negligence caused the crash. Motor vehicle claims follow their own filing period.
Workers' compensation is generally the only claim against your own employer (C.R.S. 8-41-102), and it may pay benefits. That protection doesn't extend to a company that isn't your employer. A worker burned by a defective compressor, or hurt because of a property owner who isn't the employer, can take workers' compensation and also seek damages from that outside party above what those benefits provide (C.R.S. 8-41-203).
Under the statute, what a property owner owed you depends on your status on the property. The law divides people into trespassers, licensees, and invitees, and the court assigns the label based on the facts.
Invitees receive the highest level of care. The law gives that label to a person who enters to do business in which both sides have an interest, or who enters because the landowner represented that the public was expected. A diner at a restaurant or a shopper in a store may qualify. An invitee can recover when a landowner unreasonably fails to use reasonable care to protect against dangers it knew about or should have known about.
Tighter rules apply to others. A social guest counts as a licensee, whose claim generally depends on proof that the host had actual knowledge of the hazard (C.R.S. 13-21-115(4)(b)). Where a tenant fits within these categories is a question the court decides from the facts of the case. On land classified for property tax purposes as agricultural or vacant, invitees must also prove the owner actually knew.
In a negligence claim, Colorado lets you recover even if you were partly negligent, as long as your negligence was less than that of the person you're suing. The damages are reduced by your percentage. If your negligence was equal to or greater than theirs, the court rules for the defendant.
Say a jury found that a tenant left a space heater too close to a curtain and that the landlord ignored repeated complaints about a dead smoke alarm. If the jury put the tenant's share at 30 percent and the landlord's at 70, the tenant would recover 70 percent of the damages.
Tort claims in Colorado generally have two years from accrual, a rule covering premises cases (C.R.S. 13-80-102(1)(a)) as well as strict liability cases over products (C.R.S. 13-80-102(1)(b)). Crash claims differ. Tort claims arising out of the use or operation of a motor vehicle generally have three years (C.R.S. 13-80-101(1)(n)), although a strict liability case over a defective car part generally stays at two (C.R.S. 13-80-101(1)(n)(II)).
For those periods, a claim generally accrues on the date you knew, or reasonably should have known, that you were injured and what caused the injury (C.R.S. 13-80-108).
A government defendant adds a separate requirement. If the City of Colorado Springs, El Paso County or some other public entity, or one of its employees on the job, may share the blame, written notice must be filed within 182 days after you discover the injury. The clock doesn't wait for your investigation to finish, and missing the deadline ends the claim permanently (C.R.S. 24-10-109).
If the injured person is a child, separate rules can change how a deadline runs. Because the right date depends on the facts, have a lawyer confirm yours.
Pain and suffering, emotional stress, and lost quality of life make up noneconomic damages, and Colorado holds them to $1.5 million for claims arising on or after January 1, 2025. Medical malpractice and wrongful death cases follow separate rules. The cap itself is adjusted for inflation starting January 1, 2028.
Emergency care, surgery bills, and lost income are economic, so the cap leaves them alone (C.R.S. 13-21-102.5(3)). The fifth subsection goes further and keeps the section from restricting compensatory damages for physical impairment or disfigurement. After a fire that leaves scarring on the face or arms, that protection may apply, because scarring may be compensated as disfigurement.
El Paso County's judicial building, seven trauma facilities on the state's designated list, and the city fire department are all in Colorado Springs.
The judicial building
The El Paso County Assessor lists the City of Colorado Springs among the county's incorporated cities. El Paso County's courts are at the El Paso County Judicial Building, 270 S Tejon St, Colorado Springs, CO 80903. The county is part of the 4th Judicial District, which also includes Teller County. The facts of a case determine where a lawsuit is filed.
Designated trauma facilities
The Colorado health department's list of designated trauma facilities places seven Level I through Level IV facilities in Colorado Springs. UCHealth Memorial Hospital Central, at 1400 E. Boulder Street is listed as Level I. Penrose Hospital, at 2222 N Nevada Ave, is listed as Level II. Children's Hospital Colorado, Colorado Springs, at 4090 Briargate Parkway, is also listed as Level II. Records from whichever hospital treated you, including the ambulance run sheet, can be important evidence, so ask for full copies.
The fire department
According to the Colorado Springs Fire Department, when an emergency isn't primarily a law enforcement matter, the CSFD is generally the agency that responds to your 911 call for help, and it is the primary responder to fires in structures and motor vehicles. The city's fire department contact page directs requests for medical, fire or incident reports to its Incident Records Department and notes that a fee applies to each report released. A fire report can help show where an apartment fire began.
Our office
CGH Injury Lawyers has no Colorado Springs office. Our lawyers work from Denver.
We don't publish burn settlement figures because the size and depth of a burn, its location and its long-term effects set the value of each claim.
Landlords and their insurers may blame a tenant. We rely on fire origin analysis, maintenance records and expert testimony to answer those arguments.
MedlinePlus says, "Full-thickness burns (formerly known as third-degree burns) affect the deep layers of skin." We work with burn surgeons, medical economists, and vocational experts on a Life Care Plan that details and prices the future care a burn like that may need.
Managing Partner Kevin Cheney is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). CGH Injury Lawyers, formerly Cheney Galluzzi & Howard, was founded in Denver in 2016. It prepares each case as if it will be tried.
We'll let you know if the facts or the law won't support a claim.
Call (303) 835-9177 for help in Spanish.
Call 911 in an emergency. MedlinePlus says, "Major burns need urgent medical care." It also cautions, "The most serious burns can be painless."
Before you give a recorded statement to an insurance company, you can ask to talk with a lawyer first. Our number is (303) 209-9395.
The CSFD's Incident Records Department handles report requests. Note the date, address and the names of any firefighters you spoke with.
Capture smoke alarms, exits, the electrical panel and any damaged appliances before cleanup or repairs begin.
If you had reported problems to the landlord before the fire, gather those emails, texts or maintenance requests.
A heater, charger or appliance can't be tested once it's thrown away.
The kinds of damages that fit a case depend on its facts.
Scarring may be compensated as disfigurement. C.R.S. 13-21-102.5(5) doesn't cap compensatory damages for physical impairment or disfigurement.
Suing a public entity means working within recovery maximums under C.R.S. 24-10-114, figures the Secretary of State recalculates on a four-year schedule.
In a negligence claim, a tenant's damages are reduced by the tenant's percentage of fault, and recovery is barred if that share is equal to or greater than the landlord's. Fire origin analysis and the building's maintenance history may help show how the fire started.
For an invitee, the question includes what the owner should have known. For a licensee, actual knowledge is generally required. The court decides which category applies (C.R.S. 13-21-115).
Payment for the first admission may not cover grafts, therapy or scar care still to come. A Life Care Plan identifies those costs.
Tort claims arising out of the use or operation of a motor vehicle generally have three years (C.R.S. 13-80-101(1)(n)). If the fire came from a defective part and you sue its maker in strict liability, that piece of the case generally keeps two years (C.R.S. 13-80-101(1)(n)(II)). Your own deadline should be confirmed by a lawyer.
El Paso County's courts are at the El Paso County Judicial Building, 270 S Tejon St, Colorado Springs, CO 80903, in the 4th Judicial District. The facts of each case control where it gets filed.
Damages for disfigurement aren't limited by C.R.S. 13-21-102.5. Scarring may be compensated as disfigurement, and C.R.S. 13-21-102.5(5) says nothing in that section limits compensatory damages for physical impairment or disfigurement. Its $1.5 million noneconomic limit covers claims arising on or after January 1, 2025, other than medical malpractice and wrongful death cases. Economic losses such as medical bills and lost wages aren't noneconomic damages and aren't subject to that cap. Claims against a government body have their own maximum amounts (C.R.S. 24-10-114).
No. Our office is at 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201, Denver, CO 80205. Phone (303) 209-9395 and we can discuss your situation.
If a city, county or other public entity, or one of its employees on the job, could be to blame, written notice must be filed within 182 days after you discover the injury. Unanswered questions about the claim don't extend that window, and late or missing notice ends the claim for good (C.R.S. 24-10-109). Recovery from government defendants is also capped, with the caps revised by the Secretary of State every four years (C.R.S. 24-10-114). More than one limitation rule can apply to a claim against a public entity, so have a lawyer confirm the deadline.
They can. When the injured person is under 18, Colorado law has its own provisions that may alter the timing (C.R.S. 13-81-103). If a public entity may be involved, also ask the lawyer about the 182-day written notice rule (C.R.S. 24-10-109). Ask a lawyer to work out your child's dates early.
It depends on the facts. A social guest counts as a licensee under C.R.S. 13-21-115, and a licensee's claim generally requires proof that the host had actual knowledge of what caused the harm. A judge settles your category. When a faulty grill, fire pit or appliance was to blame, look at the company that made it too.
Paying customers may qualify as invitees, and C.R.S. 13-21-115 lets an invitee pursue a business over hazards it was aware of or reasonably should have been. The judge classifies you based on the evidence. If you share some fault, your damages are reduced by your percentage, and recovery is barred if your share equals or exceeds the business's share (C.R.S. 13-21-111).
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It's More Than Money.
If a fire or burn has turned your life upside down, phone (303) 209-9395 or fill in the contact page with a few details. We'll walk through how Colorado law may apply and share what we candidly think.
Learn more on our Colorado Springs personal injury lawyers page.
Other pages that may help: an overview from a Colorado burn injury attorney on claims statewide, our Denver burn injury lawyer page, and pages on hiring a Colorado Springs car accident lawyer or a Colorado Springs premises liability lawyer.
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