A Medicolegal study of Burn Deaths in a tertiary Care Centre

In ancient times, people considered fire one of the basic elements of the universe, along with water, air, and earth. Fire can be a friendly, comforting thing, a source of heat and light, as anyone who has ever sat by a campfire in the dark of the night knows. Yet fire can also be dangerous and deadly, racing and leaping like a living thing to consume all in its path. Death due to burns was one of the commonest unnatural deaths found in society. A retrospective study of cases from January 2011 to December 2012 of death due to burns was conducted in the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Government Medical College, Amritsar. The objective of the study was to understand various demographic aspects of deaths due to burns so as to suggest some remedial measures.