I was injured when I was exiting my apartment building during a fire. I fell on the fire escape and badly injured my knee. Do I have a claim?
Depending upon the cause of the fire and the type of fire escape you were using, you may have multiple theories of recovery against the landlord of the building.
It seems like you are talking about an apartment building. Prior posts have discussed the definition of a multiple dwelling building. I am assuming that your building is a multiple dwelling, therefore the Multiple Dwelling Law would apply to it.
There are several sections of the Multiple Dwelling Law that apply to the situation. Multiple Dwelling Law section 231 states that buildings at least two stories need to have two separate means of egress. Those separate means of egress must not include wire, chain, cable, vertical ladder, or rope fire escapes. This means that if you were using any of these types of fire escapes and your accident was caused because you used of one of these kinds of fire escapes, then the building owner would be responsible.
Similarly, Multiple Dwelling Law section 53 prohibits wire, chain cable, vertical ladder or rope fire escapes as a legal means of egress. Since you are not specific about the type of fire escape you were descending, either one or both of the sections may apply to your situation.
Safety Violations Causing Fire to Spread
Beside improper fire escapes, you may also have a claim based upon the way that the fire started and spread through the building. But for the fire spreading through the building, you would have had no need to use the fire escape. Therefore, based upon the fire investigation report, you may have a claim based upon several violations pertaining to fire safety. For example, Multiple Dwelling Law section 68 provides that multiple dwellings need to have working smoke alarms. If the smoke alarm was working properly, would the fire have spread through the building causing you to use a fire escape?
Depending upon the cause of the fire, there may be issues regarding an improperly maintained chimney, defective gas stove, inadequate building construction promoting the spread of fire or other causes. There may be multiple violations of the Multiple Dwelling Law or even the New York City Building Code which could have caused or hastened in the spread of the fire. As mentioned in a prior post, if the landlord violated the Multiple Dwelling Law, causing your accident, then the landlord is negligent, per se. Yes, you may have a claim based upon a violation of one of these laws.
By James Santner, Esq.
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