ROME TOWNSHIP — Two small children and an adult were injured Sunday afternoon after a small bonfire ignited a plastic gasoline can, causing a flash fire, Rome Township Fire Chief Ed Koziol said.
The children, ages 3 and 7, were standing next to the fire with the adult at 6106 Price Road when the gasoline can exploded, igniting the fuel’s vapors, Koziol said.
The adult and 7-year-old child were taken to UH-Geauga Medical Center by ambulance, the 3-year-old was flown to Cleveland Metro Medical Center by medical helicopter, Koziol said.
“All three were badly burned, but the 3-year-old got the worst of it,” Koziol said.
Koziol said South Central Ambulance District personnel were called to the scene around 12:14 p.m. and the fire department was also called because of a report of “a flash fire.” He said emergency workers found the victims.
The helicopter landed in a field near the intersection of Price and Fillingham roads at approximately 12:45 p.m.
He said an extra ambulance from Windsor Township had been called and the nurse and medics from the helicopter treated the victim in the ambulance until it flew to Cleveland at 1:38 p.m.
The home is located about a half mile from the intersection where the helicopter landed on a dirt road in rural Rome Township. The house is set back about 75 yards from the street in a wooded area.
Koziol said the plastic gasoline can was left too close to the fire. The flames were quickly and easily extinguished, he said.
“As devastating as this was, the fire was out that quick,” he said. “We put it out with a fire extinguisher.”
Koziol was sifting through the debris about 2 p.m. during the early stages of the investigation. He said he did not have names of the victims or updates on their conditions Sunday night.
Staff writer Margie Trax Page contributed to this story.
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