Oregon Teen Awarded $20 Million Settlement After Welding Class Fire at Ontario School
Following a fire in a welding class at a school in the Ontario School District in February 2025, an Oregon teenager was awarded a $20 million settlement earlier this year after her clothes caught on fire.
The girl, who suffered third-degree burns on 30% of her body- mostly on her arms, chest, and back- when her clothes caught fire in welding class when she was 15, was using a plasma-cutting torch. This metal-cutting tool can reach tens of thousands of degrees Fahrenheit.
Court documents indicate that the school’s welding protective equipment, including a flame-retardant jacket, was tattered to the point of being unusable.
Yet, students were instructed to operate the torch anyway. The teen was not wearing protective gear.
- 2024 to 2025: Student enrolled in Welding Level 1 at Ontario High School.
- Feb. 25, 2025: Plasma cutter incident occurs during class.
- Afterward: Student receives hospital and burn unit treatment.
- Jan. 2026: Lawsuit filed in federal court.
- Feb. 13, 2026: Court notice says settlement is being finalized.
- 2026: Attorney confirms $20 million settlement.
After sparks from the tool set her clothes ablaze, she ran outside and rolled in the snow, trying to put the flames out, and was later airlifted to a nearby hospital before being transferred to a burn unit, where she received treatments, including skin grafts, for several months.
The settlement covers about $14 million in past and future medical treatments, with the balance being damages for “pain and suffering.”