Kazan Law mesothelioma lawyers represent individuals and their families who live in Fort Bragg or were exposed to asbestos within the city. We can help Fort Bragg families whose lives have been tragically and irreversibly affected by mesothelioma and other asbestos related diseases.
FORT BRAGG, CALIFORNIA, OVERVIEW
Fort Bragg is a coastal town in Mendocino County, situated on the Noyo River and Highway One. It is 165 miles north of San Francisco and 58 miles west of the county seat of Ukiah. Its current population is over 7,000.
As with most of Northern California, the first inhabitants of Fort Bragg were Pomo Indians. In 1857, the United States established a military outpost north of the Noyo River, naming it for his former commanding officer Capt. Braxton Bragg, who later became a General in the Army of the Confederacy.
By 1867, the reservation and military outpost at Fort Bragg were abandoned. By 1869, small lumber mills were being built at the mouth of every creek. By 1873, Fort Bragg had an established port at the mouth of the Noyo River to accommodate the lumber trade. For the next 125 years, Fort Bragg would primarily be characterized as a lumber mill town, milling the Redwood trees that grew plentifully inland.
In 1891, after smaller lumber yards merged, Union Lumber Company was formed. In it’s various incarnations, it would be the main employer of the town for 100 years.
In 1901 the Union Lumber Company incorporated the National Steamship Company to carry lumber, passengers and supplies. The only link to manufactured supplies and staples were delivered by steamship. It was 145 1/2 sea miles from Noyo to San Francisco.
Traveling by sea in the early days was more feasible than traveling by land, where there were scarcely any roads, just trails suitable for a man on horseback. Besides there were rivers to cross, sometimes by wading or swimming, or ferries with a toll to pay. It was not until the early 1860’s that bridges were built. The captains of the small lumber schooners brought passengers, household supplies, the mail, newspapers, and gossip to the ports along the coast.
But ultimately, this manner of supply line could not be sustainable long term as there were many shipwrecks and occasional loss of life due to the rough seas. In 1905, the California Western Railroad trains came to Willits, a 35-mile distance which helped bring necessary supplies and personnel to Fort Bragg.
The 1906 earthquake brought both damages and riches to Fort Bragg. The earthquake destroyed many brick structures in town, although nothing to the magnitude of San Francisco. In the years follow, the mills furnished lumber to rebuild San Francisco, and the lumber ships returning from San Francisco were ballasted with bricks used for rebuilding Fort Bragg. With the new prosperity, the rail line to Willits was completed in 1912.
In 1913 A. Paladini Fish Company opened a plant at Noyo to process fish to be shipped out all over the world. About 25 boats were operating at this time. That was the beginning of fishing as an industry at the Noyo . In the following years, there were between 300 to 400 boats operating out of the Noyo river during the summer months. The following dealers, besides Paladini were buying then: United Fish Company, International Fish Company, Kelvenhusen Packing Company, Small and Uri and Western California Fish Company.
The California Western Railroad began as rail route for moving large logs to the mills, but morphed into what is currently known as the Skunk Train. The Skunk Train offers scenic tours through the redwoods from Willits to Fort Bragg. That train was discontinued in 2001 owing to the embargo of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad, then revived in September 2006 as a special event train. No.45 continues to power excursion trains from Fort Bragg as far as Northspur, the CWR’s midpoint, on selected weekends summer to early autumn.
The Noyo River runs from approximately 100 miles east and spills into Noyo Harbor and the Pacific Ocean. The harbor is spanned by the Noyo River bridge, the newest incarnation of the bridge opening in 2005. Prior to the first bridge being built in 1861, river crossings were made on a cable ferry which also operated at the same narrow point in the channel.
The lawyers at Kazan, McClain, Satterley & Greenwood have brought successful asbestos exposure lawsuits arising from asbestos exposure at many types of worksites in Fort Bragg, and across California, including:
- Fisheries
- Boise Cascade
- Georgia Pacific
- Union Lumber
Fort Bragg mesothelioma cases can involve industrial and shipyard exposure to asbestos by many different kinds of workers, in all variety of industrial jobs, trades, and occupations, including:
- Boilermakers
- Carpenters
- Construction Workers
- Custodians
- Drillers
- Drywallers
- Electricians
- Flooring Installers
- Foundry Workers
- Glaziers
- Home Repair
- HVAC Repair
- Insulators
- Iron Workers
- Laborers
- Lathers
- Machine Operators
- Machinists
- Engineers
- Molders
- Painters
- Paintmakers
- Pipe Installation
- Pipefitters
- Plasterers
- Plumbers
- Public Works projects
- Repairman
- Riggers
- Roofers
- Seaman
- Sheetmetal Workers
- Steamfitters
- Superintendents/Foremen
- Tiremen
- Vehicle Repair
- Welders
PREVALENCE OF MESOTHELIOMA LAWSUITS
The mesothelioma lawyers at Kazan, McClain, Satterley and Greenwood have over 45 years of experience working with mesothelioma lawsuits in Fort Bragg and throughout California. Our mesothelioma lawyers can come to your home to discuss your work history, and to guide you through the mesothelioma lawsuit process. Occupational exposure to asbestos may have taken place many years in the past, and it is often necessary to take a detailed work history to determine exposure.
The mesothelioma lawyers at Kazan, McClain, Satterley & Greenwood have also brought successful “take home” mesothelioma lawsuits on behalf of spouses and family members of workers who were exposed to take-home asbestos at their worksites in Fort Bragg and brought the asbestos home on their work clothes.
Asbestos exposed workers in Fort Bragg mesothelioma lawsuits have received care and treatment at hospitals and medical centers throughout the North Coast, where oncologists and other medical professionals can make referrals to regional experts treating mesothelioma cases. These Fort Bragg treatment facilities include:
- Mendocino Coast District Hospital
EXPERIENCE OF FORT BRAGG MESOTHELIOMA LAWYERS
The offices of the mesothelioma law firm of Kazan, McClain, Satterley & Greenwood are located in the beautiful Jack London Square area of Oakland, California. The Kazan firm’s mesothelioma lawyers are able to file and prosecute cases throughout California.
Fort Bragg mesothelioma lawsuits are often handled in the Alameda County civil court system. The civil courts are located throughout the county. There are three civil court locations in Oakland, and additional civil courts in the cities of Alameda and Hayward. Mesothelioma lawsuits are designated complex litigation and are handled in the court’s dedicated Asbestos Department, in the main Oakland courthouse. Plaintiffs in Fort Bragg mesothelioma lawsuits are often entitled to preference on the court’s trial calendars, allowing their cases to proceed quickly to trial and resolution.
Over the last four decades, the mesothelioma law firm of Kazan, McClain, Satterley & Greenwood have recovered over $4 billion in jury verdicts and settlements in mesothelioma cases arising throughout California, including in Fort Bragg.
CONTACT OUR FORT BRAGG MESOTHELIOMA LAWYERS
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, contact us now to speak with one of our partners. The mesothelioma lawyers at Kazan McClain, Satterley & Greenwood will bring their decades of expertise and success to your claim for mesothelioma caused by asbestos exposure in Fort Bragg. We can be reached 24/7. To get a free consultation with one of our mesothelioma attorneys, please call 1-888-887-1238, fill out the form on this page or use our live chat widget.