From the Daily News:A Queens 10-year-old was burned over half his body when a water balloon he had ignited splashed into a gasoline puddle - sparking a vicious fireball.
Gavin Rogers was nearly engulfed in flames, but his quick-thinking friend doused him with a garden hose, extinguishing the flames - and likely saving his life.
Gavin suffered second- and third-degree burns over half his body, including to his legs and face, his shocked family said.
Gavin was playing on a concrete patio behind the garage of his family's home on Beach 146th St. in the Rockaways. With him were one of his brothers, Chris and another pal.
His mother was at work, and no other adults were around.
The boys, enjoying a gorgeous sunny day, used a can of gasoline to fill up a dirt bike, but they accidentally spilled some of the fuel onto the concrete patio, Chris recalled.
Then Gavin began horsing around with the water balloon - first filling it up with water and then touching it with a flame.
It was supposed to be just an innocent boyish antic, but it nearly cost Gavin his life.
The flame caused the balloon to burst, and amid the shower of water was a still-burning piece of rubber, which made contact with the gasoline on the floor - with devastating effect.
The flames that shot up Gavin's body were so intense they melted the rubber on the soles of the boy's sneakers, Chris and other witnesses said.
After an FDNY ambulance rushed Gavin to the hospital, his brothers and friends could only try to make sense of the horrific moment when frivolous fun turned terribly wrong.
21 comments:
Keep freaking gasoline away from kids, it is an explosive too. On the N train one day, while the train was stalled in the middle of a track, I heard two kids with gasoline-filled bikes whose tanks were jerry-rigged plastic bottles debate the wisdom of firing up the bikes in a car full of people, with no way out if a fire started.
The Father's Day fire in Astoria that cost 3 firemen their lives, sent two to intensive care, injured 60 people and made scores homeless also originated with a young boy running around with gas. In that case, gas fumes from his container set off a pilot light in a warehouse with illegally stored propane.
Even John Gotti lost a child because he was screwing around with one of those bikes. When children are old enough to have state-issued licenses, they are old enough to drive and be around gasoline.
Anyone else think they were tossing around gasoline-filled balloons? It would have to be an awful big puddle to light the poor kid up like that. Just saying...
I have got to agree with the prev comment. Touching a flame to a water-filled ballon should have simply ruptured the balloon. Gasoline spilled on the patio floor would have (1) dispersed over a flat surface, or (2) gone down into a drain, and in any case it would have smell really volatile and dangerous and rapidly evaporated. I can undertand why they want to paint this an unforeseen accident rather than an unbelievably stupid and tragic stunt.
Both boys families were warned about their playing with gasoline last week! Both were unsupervised riding GAS powered dirtbikes just prior to this incident. Someone needs to be held responsible before anyone else is harmed!
Sounds to me like the ballons were filled with gasoline and they were throwing fireballs.
How would fill up a balloon with gasoline? It would need to be pressurized, like from a gas station pump. This was done in their backyard and I doubt there was a pump there.
DON'T PLAY WITH FIRE YOU LITTLE FUCKIN IDIOTS!
DAAAAMN
Young kids shouldn't have gasoline powered dirt bikes. You should need a license to drive one of these bikes. Where was the adult supervision? I know mothers have to work, but someone should be responsible for the kids. Sorry to hear that he was burned so badly. I'm sure he'll never play with gasoline again. This is what happens when the kids are in charge and the parents give them whatever they want.
I bet ya he'll never do that again.
so close..... almost got that Daewin award! sigh
"How would fill up a balloon with gasoline? It would need to be pressurized, like from a gas station pump. This was done in their backyard and I doubt there was a pump there."
Are you kidding? I went to the gas station with an empty jug and filled it with gas last week. That's how you get the gas... As far as filling the balloons with gas that's easy, just like filling it with water... Use a funnel or something...
It's a good thing you don't play with gas....
"used a can of gasoline to fill up a dirt bike, but they accidentally spilled some of the fuel onto the concrete patio"
this poor poor baby . . .
A 10 year old is too young for a gasoline powered dirt bike - supervised or not.
We have kids in my nab with them also - ride up and down the blocks through stop sign after stop sign.
very sad story. I feel bad too for his friend to have witnessed such a horrific accident. Thank goodness he was able to help his friend.
Do not make anyone out to be a hero here. Both boys were involved in doing something dangerous. I hope the police interview all the parents of the children involved, and the neighbors who have been repeatedly calling the police and warning them of the dangerous behavior of the boys riding the gas powered dirtbikes through the neighborhood. The father of chris Demarco was warned last week about him playing with gasoline. Father of the year, right?
I thought it was illegal to have gasoling powered minibikes and ride them through the streets.
To Faster340: have you ever filled a balloon? A balloon is a small piece of rubber which expands when you forceably fill it. Its contents (air, water, gas) have to be pressurized in order to stretch out the rubber; it's NOT like filling a bucket or plastic bag. To make a water balloon, one must slide the lip of the balloon over a faucet or hose and then turn the water on. Pouring water (or gas) from a jug into a empty balloon does nothing but make a mess on the floor. Idiot!
Yes I am familiar with filling balloons with gas... I was a dumb kid once too and one of my friends lost his eyebrows when one of them "accidentally" went on fire...
10 year old home with no adult? TROUBLE BIG TROUBLE!!! Get a friggin sitter or something,who leaves a 10 year old home alone:(
LibertyBoyNYC said...
Anyone else think they were tossing around gasoline-filled balloons? It would have to be an awful big puddle to light the poor kid up like that. Just saying...
Thursday, June 03, 2010
Yep I was thinking the same thing:(
I am sorry he was hurt, and I wish him a full recovery. But I hope he and his parents learned a little something from this.
YUP...how to get medicaid for a long long time
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But I hope he and his parents learned a little something from this
There's pressure on your brain, "anonymous".
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