By Shelby Stewart-Soldan
Staff Writer
Brandon Twp. — At 11:35 a.m., on May 13, Brandon deputies responded to a report of a structure fire with injury.
While en-route, dispatch advised that a child suffered severe burns from the fire. Upon arrival, Brandon Fire was already on the scene, and an ambulance was arriving to transport the child to the hospital with a police escort. As Brandon Fire continued to extinguish the fire, deputies spoke with the only other person home at the time, who stated that they were doing homework when they smelled smoke. They stated they came out of their room and saw the victim going into the room that the smell was coming from, and saw a lot of smoke. They went in to grab the child and both of them went outside, then called for help. Deputies also spoke to the homeowners, who stated that they were out taking another child to a doctor’s office when they got a call about the house fire, then rushed home and went to the hospital. The homeowner said the front room of the home did not have any overloaded outlets but that there were two reptile enclosures with heat pads, and that there may have been a three wick candle burning since last night, but he was not sure if it was lit or not. The child sustained first and second degree burns on up to 50 percent of their body, and is being treated in ICU.
The case was forwarded to the fire investigations unit and remains open.