The statute of limitations is the deadline for filing a lawsuit. Miss it, and a court will almost always dismiss the case no matter how strong it is. The table below lists the general personal-injury filing deadline that applies to burn, fire, explosion, and electrocution injury claims in each state, with the statute it comes from. This is an educational reference, not legal advice — the deadline that applies to a specific case can differ, and only a licensed attorney in your state can tell you which clock you are on.
| State | Filing deadline | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 2 years | Ala. Code § 6-2-38(l) |
| Alaska | 2 years | Alaska Stat. § 09.10.070(a)(2) |
| Arizona | 2 years | Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 12-542 |
| Arkansas | 3 years | Ark. Code Ann. § 16-56-105 |
| California | 2 years | Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1 |
| Colorado | 2 years | Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-80-102 |
| Connecticut | 2 years | Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-584 |
| Delaware | 2 years | 10 Del. C. § 8119 |
| District of Columbia | 3 years | D.C. Code § 12-301(a)(8) |
| Florida | 2 years | Fla. Stat. § 95.11(5)(a) (HB 837, 2023) |
| Georgia | 2 years | O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33 |
| Hawaii | 2 years | Haw. Rev. Stat. § 657-7 |
| Idaho | 2 years | Idaho Code § 5-219(4) |
| Illinois | 2 years | 735 ILCS 5/13-202 |
| Indiana | 2 years | Ind. Code § 34-11-2-4 |
| Iowa | 2 years | Iowa Code § 614.1(2) |
| Kansas | 2 years | Kan. Stat. Ann. § 60-513(a)(4) |
| Kentucky | 1 year — among the shortest in the country | Ky. Rev. Stat. § 413.140(1)(a) |
| Louisiana | 2 years | La. Civ. Code art. 3493.1 |
| Maine | 6 years | 14 M.R.S. § 752 |
| Maryland | 3 years | Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-101 |
| Massachusetts | 3 years | Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 260, § 2A |
| Michigan | 3 years | Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.5805(2) |
| Minnesota | 6 years | Minn. Stat. § 541.05, subd. 1(5) |
| Mississippi | 3 years | Miss. Code Ann. § 15-1-49(1) |
| Missouri | 5 years | Mo. Rev. Stat. § 516.120 |
| Montana | 3 years | Mont. Code Ann. § 27-2-204(1) |
| Nebraska | 4 years | Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-207(3) |
| Nevada | 2 years | Nev. Rev. Stat. § 11.190(4)(e) |
| New Hampshire | 3 years | N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 508:4 |
| New Jersey | 2 years | N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2A:14-2(a) |
| New Mexico | 3 years | N.M. Stat. Ann. § 37-1-8 |
| New York | 3 years | N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 214(5) |
| North Carolina | 3 years | N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-52(5) |
| North Dakota | 6 years | N.D. Cent. Code § 28-01-16(5) |
| Ohio | 2 years | Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.10(A) |
| Oklahoma | 2 years | Okla. Stat. tit. 12, § 95(A)(3) |
| Oregon | 2 years | Or. Rev. Stat. § 12.110(1) |
| Pennsylvania | 2 years | 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5524(2) |
| Rhode Island | 3 years | R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-1-14(b) |
| South Carolina | 3 years | S.C. Code Ann. § 15-3-530(5) |
| South Dakota | 3 years | S.D. Codified Laws § 15-2-14(3) |
| Tennessee | 1 year — among the shortest in the country | Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104(a)(1)(A) |
| Texas | 2 years | Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003 |
| Utah | 4 years | Utah Code § 78B-2-307(4) |
| Vermont | 3 years | 12 V.S.A. § 512(4) |
| Virginia | 2 years | Va. Code § 8.01-243(A) |
| Washington | 3 years | Wash. Rev. Code § 4.16.080(2) |
| West Virginia | 2 years | W. Va. Code § 55-2-12(b) |
| Wisconsin | 3 years | Wis. Stat. § 893.54(1m)(a) |
| Wyoming | 4 years | Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-3-105(a)(iv)(C) |
Why the deadline that applies to you can differ from the table
The general deadline is not always the one that applies — in either direction. Claims against a city, county, or state agency can require a formal notice of claim on a much shorter clock — in some states a matter of months. Deadlines can also run differently for minors, for wrongful-death claims, and where a discovery rule applies. The table lists each state’s deadline for negligence claims — the theory most burn and fire cases proceed on; where a claim sounds in intentional tort instead (an assault, or some arson-related theories), several states apply a different and often much shorter clock. The difference can also run the other way: Florida’s two-year deadline comes from a 2023 statute change (HB 837, effective March 24, 2023), and Florida claims that accrued before that date still run on the previous four-year clock. Louisiana moved in the opposite direction — its long-standing one-year article was repealed effective July 1, 2024, and injuries on or after that date get two years (La. Civ. Code art. 3493.1), while earlier Louisiana injuries still run on the former one-year clock. The state pages linked in the table cover what we have verified for each state — the filing deadline, the shared-fault rule, damage caps, and government-claim notice deadlines where they exist.
How this table is sourced
Each deadline was read from the text of the statute cited beside it — on the state’s own official code publication wherever the state allows access, and for the few states that block access to their own code sites, against a third-party mirror of the statutory text. Kentucky and Tennessee, at one year each, share the shortest deadline in the country. Last updated August 2026.
