Florida Injury Lawyer Blawg
At least one person died and four others were hospitalized with severe burns following a boat explosion at a marina in Dania Beach, according to reporting from The Miami herald.
The incident took place around 4:30 p.m. Friday when a boat that was delivered to the marina for work before the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show, which is expected to run from Wednesday until Nov. 3.
The boat exploded after five workers began fueling, according to local media. Witnesses reported hearing a “massive boom” before emergency responders rushed to the scene to get people to the hospital.
Additional details including what was the cause of the explosion and whether the four injured workers were still in the hospital was not immediately available Monday morning.
The incident remains under investigation.
In Miami-Dade County, near the 1200 block of Northeast 79th Street, firefighters responded to a boat fire that hospitalized two people. When they arrived, they found the boat “fully engulfed in flames,” according to reporting from Channel 10 News. Both passengers were transported via ambulance to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center.
Additional details were not immediately available Monday morning.
Previous Cases
Operating out of a state with over a million registered vessels that has been dubbed “the boating capital of the world,” Leesfield & Partners attorneys have seen the effects of boating incidents and the tolls they take on injured clients and grieving families. In nearly five decades of personal injury practice, the firm has recovered tens of millions in verdicts and settlements for victims of boating accidents and other incidents on Florida waters.
Recently, Partner and Trial Lawyer, Justin B. Shapiro, filed a lawsuit on behalf of a family whose son was killed as the result of a negligent boater. Our client’s son was a passenger on the boat when its operator sped in the rain and dark, crashing it into a channel marker and causing our client’s son to be thrown from the vessel and killed.
In March, the boater in that case was charged with one count of boating under the influence/manslaughter and vessel homicide resulting from reckless driving.
That case is ongoing.
Leesfield & Partners also represented the family of a snorkeler who drowned while out at Dry Tortugas National Park. The boat tour that brought the man and his wife to that area instructed them on what area to swim. Within moments, he was found floating and unresponsive. The man was a novice swimmer and the boat tour company did not provide him with a flotation device.
A confidential settlement was reached in that case.
A Key West spearfisherman was hit by a boat, suffering a serious and disfiguring laceration to his leg. Leesfield & Partners attorneys secured a $275,000 recovery for his injuries.
Another Leesfield & Partners client involves the death of a young diver killed when a law enforcement officer negligently disregarded his divers-down flag, which was prominently displayed, and ignored state law.
The firm also secured a multi-million dollar settlement in the case of a diver killed by a reckless teen boater who did not stop when he hit our client’s family member, attempted to cover up evidence and lied to police during questioning. Neighbors testified against the teen, noting his pattern of reckless boating.
The family of a New Jersey tourist killed in a Key West jet ski accident was awarded $3 million.
The firm also handled a case involving the death of a 20-year-old woman on a speed boat that crashed into a concrete dock. The woman, and other passengers, were launched from the speeding boat when it crashed. An investigation revealed that the person driving the boat that night had been drinking.
A seven-figure settlement was secured by attorneys for the family of the woman in that case.
Leesfield & Partners also represented the family of a snorkeling excursion passenger who died after the charter boat collided with a channel marker. Attorneys with the firm secured $1,850,000 for the family.
Another case handled by the firm involved a boating accident that caused significant injury and the amputation to a minor’s leg. Due to the negligent supervision of boating activities, Leesfield & Partners was able to secure a substantial settlement for the injured client.
In cases involving fires handled by the firm, attorneys recovered 2.95 million for a family whose home caught fire due to a damaged TV set. The family’s 13-year-old daughter tragically died in the fire and her father, who attempted to save her, was horrifically burned in the incident, incurring injuries to about 30% of his body.
A couple honeymooning were horrendously burned after an explosion at their vacation accommodation. Both were transported to the hospital for treatment but the wife did not survive. Leesfield
The firm also handled the case of a Cape Coral man injured in an explosion at his home. The defendant in that case was a cleaning company whose employee left the man’s house in a rush, allowing a knob of the propane gas grill on the patio that was being cleaned to remain on. The gas built up, resulting in the explosion.
Leesfield & Partners recovered the maximum insurance policy amount of $2 million for the man in that case.
