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A 'MOOD flame' almost cost a young girl her life in a freak festive
season accident at a New South Wales caravan park.
The 12-year-old was sitting near the open flame flickering from a steel
canister which was being refuelled when a sudden gust of wind turned her
into a human fireball.
Her horrified parents dashed to smother the flames before rushing her to the
nearby shower block where they doused her with water until help arrived.
The Boxing Day evening drama stunned holidaymakers at the four-star,
365-site Crookhaven Heads Tourist Park at Culburra Beach on the state's
south coast.
Manager Kathy Pascall told Caravanning News the accident happened
at a private caravan as the family celebrated Christmas.
She declined to comment further but police said the girl, from Engadine,
in Sydney's south-west, and her family were staying with relatives at the
caravan park in Prince Edward Avenue.
"The young girl and her family were sitting at a table out the front of
the campsite which had a ‘mood flame’ burning from a stainless steel
canister," they said.
"The flame was almost out so one of the adults began to refill the
container with ethanol fuel.
"As she did this a gust of wind blew, causing the flame to jump onto the
young girl, igniting her hair and clothing."
She was rushed by ambulance to Shoalhaven Memorial District Hospital
before being airlifted to Westmead Hospital with burns to 35 percent of
her body.
She was reported to be in a serious but stable condition.
