An Abingdon man sustained serious burns this week after he accidentally spilled fuel into the fireplace, igniting a house fire and himself in the process.
Just before 10:30 pm on Wednesday, emergency personnel were dispatched to the 3600 block of Wolf Trail Drive in Abingdon for a reported dwelling fire with burn injury.
The owner of the two-story single family home was refueling his ethylene fireplace when he tripped, spilling the fuel, which was ignited by the lit fireplace and subsequently ignited the couch and other furnishings. The man sustained 2nd degree burns to his left, lower leg. He was transported to Bayview Burn Center by Abingdon Fire Company.
Twenty firefighters from the Abingdon Fire Company responded and had the single-alarm blaze under control within 10 minutes.
The Office of the State Fire Marshal estimated $25,000 in damage to the structure and another $25,000 in damage to its contents.
The fire was contained to the basement with moderate smoke and soot damage throughout the remainder of the house. The family and their 2 young children are being assisted by friends/family.
S says
Sorry, but that’s kind of funny. I’ve never heard of an ethylene fireplace so I looked it up. It’s a decorative fire that burns eco-friendly biofuels.
So this dude, in his haste to save the planet, and have a eco-friendly fire, lights up his house and burns himself in the process, thereby releasing tons of earth killing carbon into the fragile atmosphere, then forcing soot spewing firetrucks to turn on their ugly non-sustainable diesel engines, which if course they leave running during the entire fire event. The firefighters then pour countless gallons of precious water onto the burning carbon producing furniture. This now dirty and polluted water pours down the storm sewers and directly into our ecologically challenge Bay.
And all because this guy wanted an environmentally friendly fire.
Seriously, I hope he wasn’t badly injured and that his family isn’t displaced for too long.
a says
Actually it could read…..
Homeowner tripped and spilled his moon shine into the woodstove.
Bam fun tsss says
This is.probably one of the best comments on this site.
Hedley Lamarr says
OPPS!