Gasoline fire burns three-year-old boy

NFPA Journal, Sep/Oct 2004 by Tremblay, Kenneth J

MISSOURI - A three-year-old boy was engulfed in flames when the pilot light of a gas-fired water heater ignited vapors from gasoline that spilled when he tried to retrieve a toy from a utility room in the garage of his house. The utility room contained yard tools, toys, and household items.

Neighbors saw the boy go into the single-family, wood-framed house through the garage door and come running out moments later with his clothes on fire. They extinguished the flames with their own clothing and a garden hose.

The fire department received the first emergency call for medical aid at 6:24 p.m. Within minutes, another caller reported a structure fire, and additional units were dispatched.

EMS crews treated the injured child while fire crews entered die house to search for the seat of the fire. Visibility in the garage was near zero due to the build-up of smoke, and a vehicle and other items in the garage restricted firelighters' mobility. When they finally located the utility room, they found that water from melted domestic water pipe attachments had largely extinguished the blaze.

The neighbors reported a large volume of fire coming from the utility room, in which the homeowner stored gasoline in a 2-gallon (7.6-liter) container and a beverage bottle. The house, valued at $100,000, sustained $20,000 worth of damage, and its contents, valued at $30,000, sustained $10,000 worth of damage.