Playing With Fire, Boy Gets Burns on Legs, Arms, Chest

A 9-year-old boy playing with lighter fluid and matches suffered second-degree burns Saturday when he tried to put out a small grass fire with his feet, authorities said.

The boy, whose name was not released, was playing with two friends Saturday evening in a grassy spot near Harbor Boulevard and Edinger Avenue, an unincorporated area just outside city limits, according to Lt. Rex Hatch of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. The three children live in a nearby apartment complex, Hatch said.

“The kids were trying to light some of the grass on fire and eventually did manage to ignite a little area of it,” Hatch said. “One of them dropped a plastic bottle of lighter fluid and the victim stepped on it. The fluid sprayed his clothing and he caught on fire.”

Hatch said he did not know how the fire was extinguished. A witness to the incident called the 911 emergency number to summon paramedics and deputies, he said.

The boy was taken to UCI Medical Center. He suffered burns on his legs, arms and chest, Hatch said.