Articles Posted in Burn Injuries

According to Santa Barbara new outlet The Noozhawk, a local man suffered serious burns when his Jeep Cherokee caught on fire. Bystanders who witnessed the fire rushed to help the man. One witness reported that “he saw the guy was screaming, yelling for help, crying. His whole body was on fire.” Bystanders helped him get out of the car and get his shirt off and called emergency personnel.

When firefighters arrived at the scene, the car was completely engulfed in flames and the fire had spread to a building next to where the car was parked. A team went to work extinguishing the fire, while other firefighters assisted in aiding the burned man. Police reported that the burn victim had moderate to severe burn injuries on his upper torso, arms, hands and face. He was taken to the hospital, and then transferred to a burn center in Southern California for treatment of these injuries. Investigators are now looking into what caused the fire in the first place—as of now, it appears the blaze started in the back of the vehicle.

The Severity of Burn Injuries

A large, 9,000 gallon gasoline tanker exploded in South Los Angeles. According to ABC 7 News, the tank was parked on the side of the street on Slauson Avenue. Several neighbors reported smelling gas and called the fire department before the explosion occurred.

The first fire fighters arrived on the scene just prior to the explosion. Apparently, the tank had been leaking and something ignited the leaked gas—the enormous explosion caused the tank to erupt in flames, catching two homes on fire and resulting in burn injuries to two people nearby. Those injured were immediately taken to the hospital with at least one in serious condition from her burns.

Some of the leaked gas got into the sewer system and the buildup caused a second explosion down the street, sending a manhole covering blasting into the air. The fire from the explosion filled the Los Angeles sky with a dark cloud. Ultimately, 80 firefighters responded to the scene to get the blaze contained and put out.

Recently, a condo caught fire in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood of Beverly Hills. The resident, an elderly man, 91-years-old, was unable to escape the fire. According to CBS Los Angeles News, the fire was reported around 9:52 a.m. The Los Angeles County Fire Department responded to the scene and discovered the victim inside.

The elderly man was immediately rushed to the hospital in critical condition because of his fire-caused injuries. Sadly, his injuries were too severe, and he passed away at the hospital. Firefighters were able to extinguish the fire within 15 minutes and prevented it from spreading to other homes and causing other injuries.

The fire department is now investigating what caused this Beverly Hills house fire. One thing they immediately noticed was that the condo had a lack of working smoke alarms, which may have contributed to the victim being unaware of the fire until it was too late. The LAFD Captain commented that “the fact that there was no immediate evidence of a functional smoke alarm makes us all want to ensure that when we go home to our family and loved ones that we have smoke alarms outside the bedrooms, on all levels of the home.”

A multi-house fire in Ventura, California, caused injures to four people and destroyed two homes. According to KEYT 3 News, the fire occurred at just before 1:00 a.m. The Ventura fire department received several calls about the house fires in Cabrillo Village in East Ventura, even Oxnard residents could see the smoke.

By the time firefighters arrived, two homes were largely consumed, and a third home had caught fire. Several cars near the homes also caught fire. Because the blaze was so large, firefighters had to use large diameter hoses which are usually used in commercial structure fires.

The four victims of the fire were in the home that initially caught fire. The victims were immediately taken to the hospital—two victims were in critical condition, and the other two had moderate injuries. In addition to those injured, 15 people were displaced as a result of the fire. At this point, firefighters are not sure how the fire started and the fire will remain under investigation by the Ventura Fire department.

An explosion in an apartment building in Torrance injured four people and caused serious damage to several apartments in the building. When the explosion occurred, contract workers were renovating units in the building and installing kitchen appliances. Though the cause was originally unknown, it has been determined that the installation of new kitchen appliances is what lead to the explosion.

The Daily Breeze reported, “When (the contractors) went to activate one of the appliances, that provided the spark that led to the explosion. The source of the explosion was a service line into the kitchen.” The fire department is still trying to determine whether the gas leak occurred before or after the new appliances were installed.  Continue Reading