JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A 7-year-old St. Johns County girl was burned when her grandmother tried to set a Halloween jack-o-lantern on fire.
According to the incident report released by the St. Johns County’s Sheriff’s Office, the grandmother, Michelle Reyna, 62, was attempting to create a green flame while using a mixture of household cleaner Borax and antifreeze. She had watched a YouTube video with instructions on how to do it, the report said.
The incident happened Sunday at a home on Marsh Island Circle off U.S. 1 north of St. Augustine.
According to the incident report, Reyna didn’t realize the child was close to her and some of the chemical splashed on the girl's face and arm.
“I looked up and the fire had splattered and she was on the other side of it and her dress. She just had little splatters with fire on her so I grabbed her and threw her in the pool,” Reyna told 911 dispatchers.
St. Johns County Fire Rescue said the family had practiced it a few times before but something went wrong on the final attempt.
"Something was done a little differently that caused there to be a quick flash that occurred, when they were either adding a chemical or lighting whatever they had put in that pumpkin to make it glow," St. Johns County Fire Rescue's Jeremy Robshaw said.
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The girl’s father tried taking her to Flagler Hospital but was urged to stop at a fire station near Lewis Speedway after fire rescue contacted him while he was on the way.
The child was flown to UF Health in Gainesville as a precaution.
“They’re not extensive at all. They’ve very minor second-degree burns,” Reyna told Action News Jax.
The incident is being investigated by the local and state fire marshal but Robshaw said it appeared to be an accident.
“It just happened that the child happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time when the flash occurred," Robshaw said.
In the four-minute call to 911, you can hear the concern in her grandmother’s voice as she tries to get help.
“I'm trying to calm down enough that I can do this, OK? This is my grand baby we're talking about. I did this. I did this,” Reyna said to 911 dispatchers.
Action News Jax tried speaking with the girl’s parents, but no one was home.
Transcript of 911 call:
Operator: 911 what is your emergency?
Grandma: We've got an emergency. A little girl just got burned by a fire.
Grandma: We are on the way to the hospital.
Operator: Ma'am Ma'am hold on. How was the child burned?
Grandma: It's a chemical fire. We were making green flames in a pumpkin.
Operator: They're leaving with the child?
Grandma: Yes, they're on their way to the hospital. I threw her into the pool. She's got burns, maybe on the side of her face, maybe on her elbow.
Operator: OK, she was burned on the elbow and where else, ma’am?
Grandma: Maybe on the face. I don't know. I looked up and the fire had splattered and she was on the other side of it and her dress and she just had little splatters with fire on her so I grabbed her and threw her in the pool.
Operator: Was her dress on fire, ma'am?
Grandma: Only a couple little places.
Grandma: She's screaming, screaming!
:She starts looking for son's cellphone number:
Grandma: I'm trying to calm down enough that I can do this, OK? This is my grand baby we're talking about. I did this. I did this.
Operator: Ma'am, don't worry about that right now. We're just gonna try to take care of the child.
Grandma: I am worried.
Operator: Just try to stay calm.
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