Youth Suffers Burns When Gas Fumes Start Fire in Home
A 16-year-old boy who used gasoline to clean his hands was seriously burned Tuesday when the fluid’s fumes ignited, sparking a blaze at his family’s Baldwin Park home, authorities said.
The unidentified teen-ager, suffering from first- and second-degree burns on his arms and feet, was in serious condition at Queen of the Valley Hospital, Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Michael Rebolledo said.
The boy was inside the home in the 4300 block of Syracuse Avenue when he decided to use gasoline to wash his hands, which were covered with “sticky, gooey stuff,” said Rebolledo. “He put the (gas) container on the washing machine right next to the water heater and left the cap off. He went into the bathroom to rinse the gasoline off and when he returned there was a big fire.”
Fumes from the water heater ignited the gasoline fumes, Rebolledo said. The blaze caused about $40,000 damage to the home.
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