Nayeli Garcilita, a 6-year-old girl, was recently killed in a Haywood County house fire most likely caused by an electrical defect in a clothes dryer, according to a news report in the Asheville Citizen Times.

Investigators from the County Fire Marshall’s Office said there was a high probability that the early morning Lakesite Lane mobile home fire in Canton was electrical and came from the dryer unit. The fire also injured the girl’s parents Roberto and Rachael Craig Ortiz, and Raini Ortiz, their 9-year-old daughter.

Raini is still in the Wake Forest University Baptist Medical center’s burn unit. Please keep Raini and her family in your prayers. Burn injuries are terribly painful and usually leave horrendous scarring.

From the investigator’s comment about an electrical problem in the clothes dryer, this sounds to me like a product liability case. The parents should speak to a product defect law firm immediately. They would be well served going with a firm that specializes in catastrophic injury, product defect cases. It would also be advisable that the firm’s attorneys are experienced in burn injury cases and fire cause and origin cases.

The better law firms that handle defective product cases will provide a free consultation. Do not hesitate to contact a reputable law firm if you have questions or concerns regarding an injury or accident.

The parents need to move quickly to preserve the evidence. The area around the dryer needs to be inspected and photographed by experts. Then the dryer itself needs to be properly preserved as it is the single most important piece of evidence, if there is to be a defective product claim for the death, injuries and loss this family has suffered. A knowledgeable law firm will handle this for them.

For more information about clothes dryer safety and preventing fires please visit the Web sites of Consumer Product Safety Commission and Chimney Safety Institute Of America.