How an Attorney Can Help Texas Ranchers When Wind Turbines Cause A Fire and Damage Your Ranch.
Fires started by wind turbines are grossly underreported because the clean energy industry doesn’t want any stigma. A Texas ranch fire caused by wind turbines occurs many times every year. Property owners should always be ready to protect their properties and fight for compensation.
But what’s the best way to get that compensation? How do you know what your case is worth? Should you be hiring a property damage attorney right now?
If a fire caused by a wind turbine destroys your property, you should get a lawyer for property damage. Read on to learn how a property damage attorney can help your case.
A Texas Ranch Fire Caused by Wind Turbines
First, it’s important to understand why fires caused by wind turbines are becoming more common. This can help residents and wind farm employees protect themselves and their properties if a fire occurs.
Climate Change
The first thing that is causing more fires to start and spread so easily is global climate change. In Texas, climate change means a lot of the state has become drier than it has been in the past.
A fire will always start and spread more easily when conditions are dry and the wind is blowing. A wind farm, therefore, is always going to see larger fires spread when one starts. The effects are often disastrous and leave many injured and thousands of dollars in property damage.
The biggest issue is that sometimes these fires aren’t the result of operator error, so the wind farm and its employees cannot be held responsible for these damages. This creates many issues between operators, homeowners, and insurance companies.
One thing that these wind farms can do is practice controlled burns, to reduce the fuel that fires can use to keep spreading so fast. They should have emergency systems in place to put fires out in case of an emergency. Both of these reduce the risk of a fire and the damage done when one occurs.
Materials
Another major issue with current wind turbines is the materials used to make and repair them. Fiberglass, for example, is highly flammable, and it’s commonly used to make blades for wind turbines today.
It wouldn’t be surprising to see a newer wind turbine on fire if something were to go wrong. The dry and windy conditions also make it easy for the fire to spread very quickly. Unfortunately, this leaves nearby residents vulnerable to property damage and wind turbine injuries.
Employees are also at a greater risk of injury from fiberglass. When making repairs to a wind turbine, crews are in tight conditions working with a grinder on fiberglass. In effect, they create a lot of fiberglass dust in a small space, causing two major dangers for the crews.
The first is how flammable fiberglass is. A small spark might be enough to set fiberglass on fire. When there’s a lot of fiberglass dust in the air, this creates explosive dust.
The second issue is the worker’s respiratory and vision health. Fiberglass is extremely irritating to the skin, lungs, and eyes when it’s as fine as dust particles. These often create major health issues after prolonged exposure.
Lack of Skilled Labor
Another issue is the amount of supervision that wind farms can have. It isn’t that the operators and local governments don’t want to provide proper safety and supervision. The problem is that there aren’t many trained technicians that can assist in the operation of the turbines.
If technicians are stretched thin, then it takes far too long to make repairs on a damaged wind turbine. By the time they notice and make the repairs, a fire may have already started and spread. This is bad news for anyone who happens to live or work near the wind farm.
The other issue is that the technicians then need to make any repairs in a hurry. Without the proper manpower to do so, this takes longer than it should. It also becomes more dangerous without others there to ensure their equipment is safe and secure.
The best way to prevent this from becoming an issue is to encourage more people into getting trained as wind turbine technicians. This helps mitigate the risks of fires breaking out or turbines becoming damaged without notice. It’s dangerous work, but it’s important if the United States wants to start shifting to clean energy.
Old Turbines
Another issue with all of the above is that many of the current wind turbines in the United States are starting to get old. With age comes the need for replacement and repair. The risk of fire goes up the more repairs are needed.
These turbines need the most attention, leaving very little room for the limited technicians to complete repairs on every turbine that needs them. When they do, their grinders risk starting fires inside of the turbines. Finally, the conditions climate change creates only make it easier for a fire to spread.
An old turbine in need of repairs is at an even greater risk of starting a fire than a brand new one. The materials used to make them are flammable and the spinning motion always creates some friction against the axel. If they aren’t maintained, then a fire is inevitable.
It’s important to have safety measures in place to prevent these fires from getting out of hand and causing ranch fires on nearby properties. However, property owners also need to prepare themselves to take legal action if a fire does cause damage to their ranches. When this happens, a lawyer is a good place to start.
How a Property Damage Attorney Can Help
If a wind turbine fire destroys your Texas ranch, then you should get compensation from the wind farm. You need an expert who can navigate the legal system for you and get you the compensation that you deserve.
Here are the ways that a property damage lawyer that specializes in fires can help you.
Investigation of Wind Turbine Injuries
The first thing that needs to happen when a wind turbine causes ranch fires is an investigation. It’s important to determine why the wind turbines started a fire in the area so that fault can be established. This allows a judge and jury to determine who should be held responsible for the property damages and injuries.
A property damage attorney has access to investigation tools to help you build a case for compensation. Depending on the circumstances of the fire and how much damage it did, you might be entitled to more compensation than the operator’s insurance initially offers.
Evidence Collection
For an investigation to be worth anything in the court of law, you must present evidence. Items such as police incident reports, insurance claims, and even witness testimonies are all vital pieces of a puzzle that determines how much money your case is worth. However, evidence also has to be obtained and submitted legally.
A lawyer knows exactly what evidence to present and how to submit it to the courts. This means you won’t miss anything when and if your case goes all the way to trial, and you’ll improve your chances of getting a better result by the end of it.
Due Process
For someone who doesn’t deal with it every day, it can be difficult to navigate any part of the legal system. Some people may even find it tempting to just accept the offer given by the insurance right away. However, it’s likely that they aren’t giving you the best possible settlement that they can.
You should never accept their settlement before hiring an attorney for property damage. They’ll guide you through the due process and examine the offer the insurance company has made. Then they’ll put together a case for you to get the best possible outcome you can.
Connections with Experts
A property damage attorney can look at your case and decide how much money you should be entitled to. However, even lawyers don’t know everything, and every case is different. You might have had unique valuables on your property or unique damage.
In these cases, a lawyer has connections with experts in many fields that they can consult. These connections give them an outside perspective on your case that might provide evidence in your favor. When this happens, your lawyer can use this to your advantage to earn you a much larger settlement.
Hire a Property Damage Attorney Today
When a Texas ranch fire caused by wind turbines damages your property, you want to make sure that you’re compensated appropriately. A property damage attorney is the best way to ensure that this happens, and you want one specializing in burned property.
Here at Morgan Legal Group, PLLC, we have attornies that specialize in burned and destroyed property. So if a wind turbine causes ranch fires in your area and damages your property, then make sure you get the best legal counsel possible.
Contact us today and see how we can help you with your case.