Articles Posted in Third Degree Burns

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The lone survivor of a small-airplane crash in southeast Kansas recently underwent skin graft surgery to treat third degree burns across 28 percent of her body. Hannah Luce of Garden Valley, Texas, a recent graduate of Oral Roberts University, was flying with four others to a Christian youth rally in Iowa when their twin-engine Cessna crashed northwest of Chanute, Kansas.

All the other people, including the pilot, died in the crash. Hannah Luce is the daughter of Ron Luce, an Oral Roberts trustee and founder of Teen Mania Ministries, which was sponsoring the rally in Council Bluffs, Iowa. She was treated at the University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, Kansas. A spokesperson there said that Hannah was in serious condition but was expected to make a full recovery.

“She went into her first surgery for skin grafts on burns she suffered on her left leg, her arms and her hands,” said a spokesperson for the family. “The doctors are saying it’s a miracle Hannah didn’t suffer more internal trauma.” Hannah was off a respirator and breathing on her own several days after the crash, and was awake and answering questions before surgery.

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In Washington DC in mid-May, a man suffered severe burns when a small propane tank exploded during a buffet dinner event at the National Building Museum, a museum dedicated to architecture, design, and construction. The museum frequently hosts exhibitions and special events that offer food and beverage service.

The dangerous incident happened when a catering company’s propane tank exploded, causing a flash fire inside the building during the event. One man was rushed to a local hospital with potentially life-threatening third degree burns.

Two issues come into play regarding this incident:

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Last week in New Haven CT, the father of three young girls killed in a Christmas morning house fire filed a lawsuit, accusing the city of Stamford of allowing the house to become a fire trap by failing to properly oversee construction.

Richard Emery, attorney for Matthew Badger, confirmed that a notice of intent to sue the city was filed in early May. He said the city failed to ensure fire or smoke alarms were hooked up when children were living in a residence under construction. “They allowed a fire trap to exist, under their supervision, with children in it,” Emery said. But a city official said recently that building inspectors last examined the work in July 2011 and did not find any problems.

Matthew Badger’s daughters, 9-year-old Lily and 7-year-old twins Sarah and Grace, and their grandparents were killed by third degree burns and smoke inhalation during the fire at the girls’ mother’s house. Extensive home renovations were taking place during the daytime hours for several weeks up until the fire, which was started by a house guest who left a pile of hot fireplace ashes in a sack on the front porch. The ashes burned through the bag, and the house burned very quickly because of its wood structure as well as the construction materials being stored there.

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In early May, a large building at the Atlanta studio complex of filmmaker Tyler Perry caught fire, sending flames into the night sky. The blaze began shortly before 9 p.m. on a weekday inside the studio and burned fully through the building’s exterior surface.

“The building was all in flames,” said one resident who lives in a high-rise apartment next door to the studio complex. Flames shot as high as nearby trees, which are about as high as a six-story building. “The building started popping,” said the resident. “Whatever the fire was hitting was blowing up. There were plenty of sparks coming over here where we are.”

Luckily, there were no reports of any injuries such as severe burns or smoke inhalation among studio employees or local residents. If there were, the studio might have legal liability for injuries suffered by employees or local residents.

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On May 4, 2012, New York City police rescued five people, including a baby boy and another child, who were trapped in a smoky kitchen fire in Rockaway Beach, NY because they could not open a jammed apartment door.

A police sergeant on another call spotted a 21-year-old man leaning out of a smoke-filled sixth-floor window in a public housing project about 7 p.m. The man was yelling, “Help! There’s children inside!”

The police officers and members of the city’s Emergency Services Unit team went to the sixth-floor apartment, but found that the door lock was broken inside the door, so the door would not open. Trapped inside were a baby, a boy, their mom, and two visitors, as a kitchen fire raged. The blaze had begun as a grease fire in the kitchen, at the front of the apartment.

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In Vestavia Hills, Alabama this week, a six-year-old girl suffered second degree burns and third degree burns when she came in contact with an electrical transformer that powered the lighting at a large athletic complex.

The girl was at the athletic complex to watch her older brother play soccer. But she wandered away from the field and towards a wooden fence that separated the spectator areas from the electrical transformer. But because there were two planks missing from the wooden fence, the girl was able to wiggle through the fence and got too close to the transformer. After suffering a severe electrical shock, the girl was treated by a doctor who happened to be at the complex. She was then flown by Life Saver helicopter to Children’s of Alabama Hospital. The girl was listed in fair condition a day after the incident.

The Vestavia Hills Mayor acknowledged that there were planks missing from the fence. The incident is under investigation, and it is possible that the family of girl could file a lawsuit claiming that the injuries the girl suffered were a result of negligence on the part of the city, which oversees the operation of the athletic complex.

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In Coachella, CA this week, a driver suffered severe burns when propane tanks in the back of his pickup truck exploded while he waited with his family in a drive-through at a McDonald’s restaurant.

It was about 1:45 p.m. on a Saturday when the man heard a hissing noise coming from one of two tanks. When he stepped into the back of his pickup to check on the leaking tank, he created static electricity that ignited the leaking gas and caused a gas explosion in both tanks.

The blast had so much force that it caused the roof of the truck to buckle and the tailgate to blow off, striking a vehicle behind it. The fire engulfed the truck, scorched part of the drive-through, and damaged the roof of the restaurant

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In Pike Township, Ohio, last week, firefighters from dozens of departments needed six hours to get control of a massive fire at an oil company. The damage from the fire, smoke, and hazardous materials that leaked will require an extensive environmental cleanup in the area.

More than 50 agencies responded to the workplace fire. The blaze produced flames that shot 200 feet into the air, and black smoke could be seen several counties away. The clouds of smoke could even be seen on weather radar. The oil company supplies diesel fuel, heating oil, gasoline, racing fuel, bio-diesels and lubricants.

Ohio Environmental Protection Agency officials at the scene determined that oil spilled into a tributary of Donnels Creek, which feeds into Mad River. Officials used vacuum equipment and other techniques to remove environmental contaminants. “We pushed hard to protect the environment,” said a local fire chief. “We should have things back to normal in a couple days.”

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On April 12, Newark Mayor Cory Booker saved a neighbor from a blazing house fire — a dramatic rescue that he admitted was absolutely terrifying.

The dramatic rescue began at around 9:30 p.m. that night, when Booker and two officers from the Mayor’s security team spotted a fire at a house on Hawthorne Avenue belonging to Booker’s neighbor. They went over to investigate.

On the first floor, they found a couple, who told them that the woman’s daughter and a man were trapped upstairs. Booker and Newark Detective Alex Rodriguez then went to the top of the stairs, where the home’s kitchen had erupted in flames.

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Zane Wetzel spent 47 days in a coma, and awoke to the realization that he was involved in a life-changing accident. But with the love of his wife and unwavering faith and optimism, he and his wife have gotten to a place where they can actually help other burn victims too.

It has been a little more than two years since the 27-year-old apprentice lineman for Maine Public Service Co. in Presque Isle, Maine suffered a flash burn to 50 percent of his body while working at an electrical substation. His chest, back, arm and neck suffered third degree burns in the accident.

Wetzel was standing on a scissor lift with several other co-workers when a charge of electricity arced and touched the corner of the lift. The electricity traveled to the ground and bounced back, burning him. Safety equipment prevented Wetzel from being fatally electrocuted. And no one else around him was injured.

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