Burnham Holdings

Burnham Holdings’ History With Asbestos

Burnham Commercial manufactured and produced several asbestos-containing products. These included: boilers, boiler insulation,  fire-retardant bricks, gaskets and pipe insulation.

Until the late 1980s, boilers contained a number of asbestos-containing products, including insulation around the boiler’s walls, tube banks and internal pipes, gaskets, bearings to paste lagging or even raw asbestos. This put workers at higher risk of developing an asbestos-related disease such as mesothelioma.

These materials remain in many commercial, residential and industrial buildings as well as ships built before 1975. Disturbing asbestos-containing parts on these boilers can lead to exposure to asbestos.

Asbestos Litigation Involving Burnham Holdings

Unlike many companies that manufactured asbestos-containing products, Burnham hasn’t created an asbestos trust fund for asbestos claims. Instead, the company has decided to continue to defend itself in court.

Burnham Holdings’ 2025 financial report states, “In the normal course of business, certain subsidiaries of the Company have been named, and may in the future be named, as defendants in various legal actions… The Company’s subsidiaries, directly and/or through insurance providers, are vigorously defending all open asbestos cases, many of which involve multiple claimants and many defendants, and which may not be resolved for several years.”

The financial report also notes the company spent $5.3 million on uninsured litigation in 2024, compared with $1.6 million in 2023 and $1.3 million in 2022. Each year, the company paid at least one asbestos claim that insurance didn’t cover, and rising claims and settlements at subsidiaries drove the sharp increase. The company continues to track the growing number of uninsured cases.

Case of Five Plaintiffs Exposed to Asbestos

A New York jury awarded $190 million to 5 workers who developed mesothelioma after asbestos exposure linked to Burnham Commercial. The plaintiffs in the mesothelioma lawsuit included plumbers, a steamfitter, a pipefitter from the Brooklyn Navy Yard and a worker who demolished asbestos‑containing boilers. After the July 2013 verdict, jurors held Burnham responsible for $42.2 million, or 21.2% of the total damages.

The company filed post‑trial motions and appeals to reduce its share of the award. On Feb. 9, 2015, New York Supreme Court Judge Joan Madden ruled the original awards were excessive and cut Burnham’s liability to less than $7 million. The ruling sharply reduced the company’s financial exposure from the case.

Case of Steamfitter Charles Hillyer

Steamfitter Charles Hillyer sued Burnham Commercial after he developed mesothelioma from asbestos exposure on the job between 1960 and 1983. He testified that he worked around asbestos insulation on boilers, including those made by Burnham, before doctors diagnosed him with mesothelioma in March 2013. Hillyer died in September 2014, and his family continued the case on his behalf.

A jury originally awarded $20 million for his pain and suffering against Burnham and other boiler makers. In 2014, New York Judge Cynthia Kern ruled the award excessive and reduced it to $6 million. Burnham’s share was cut to $2 million, less than one‑third of the total, after an appeals court affirmed further reductions.

Burnham Holdings’ Asbestos Products and Workers at Risk

Burnham manufactured several products containing asbestos. These materials were widely used in various applications because of their heat-resistant properties.

Burnham Holding Asbestos Products

• Boilers
• Boiler insulation
• Fire-retardant bricks
• Gaskets
• Pipe insulation

Burnham’s boilers contained asbestos through the 1980s. Anyone who made these products or worked near Burnham boilers during their career faced a risk of asbestos exposure.

Occupations at Risk of Exposure to Burnham’s Asbestos Products

Workers in several fields were at risk of asbestos exposure from Burnham’s asbestos-containing products. Prolonged or repeated exposure to asbestos fibers can lead to serious health problems like mesothelioma, lung cancer or asbestosis. 

• Boiler repairmen
• Boiler technicians
• Boiler workers
• Brick masons
• HVAC installers
• HVAC mechanics
• Industrial workers
• Maintenance workers
• Pipefitters
• Plumbers
• Power plant workers
• Shipyard workers
• Steamfitters
• Veterans of the armed forces

Workers in these higher-risk jobs should know the dangers and take proper safety precautions to minimize exposure and protect their health. Many were exposed decades ago and are only now experiencing symptoms because mesothelioma has a latency period of 20 to 60 years from initial asbestos exposure.

Burnham Holdings History

Burnham Commercial began in the mid-1880s when Frederick A. Lord started a greenhouse manufacturing company in New York called Lord’s Horticultural Manufacturing Company. The greenhouse industry wanted a way to provide adjustable and evenly distributed heat across large spaces, which led the company to create its first cast-iron boiler. 

Later, Lord’s Horticultural Manufacturing Company became known as the Lord & Burnham Company. In 1905, it merged with the Pierson-Sefton Company and the Hitchings Company, both of which specialized in heating and ventilating systems for greenhouses. This merger formed the Burnham-Pierson-Sefton Corporation.

After growth and acquisitions, the Burnham Boiler Company was created in 1919. It took over the boiler business from Lord & Burnham Company and its related companies. The company was then renamed Burnham Corporation and the Burnham Holdings-owned company is now called Burnham Commercial. 

Today, Burnham Commercial is headquartered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The company continues to make steam and hot water boilers for commercial and industrial uses. Although asbestos is no longer used in their products, Burnham’s boilers are sold throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Their boilers are used in schools, government buildings, places of worship and historic sites.

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