Cobb County home explosion leaves father, son severely burned

Burn injuries occur far too often in the United States. American Burn Association statistics show that nearly a half-million Americans received medical treatment for burn injuries in 2016 alone, an average of 1,300 per day.

Set a Google alert for “home explosion,” “pipeline explosion,” or “burn injuries,” and watch as your inbox fills with updates.

Here are three headlines from just this week detailing the events of three disparate types of burn injuries:

Cobb County home explosion burns father, son

From WSB-TV News, Atlanta: Investigators are trying to figure out what caused a Cobb County home explosion. Cobb County is just northwest of Atlanta.

A neighbor of the injured family members gave reporters for WSB-TV Channel 2 Action News video of the scene on Hasty Lane in Austell, where a father and his 6-year-old son were burned severely.

Cobb County home explosion:
Debris everywhere

The Cobb County home explosion destroyed the house and blew pieces of debris all over the street and into neighboring yards.

“I just seen him scooping the baby up, and I’m just yelling like ‘Come from over there. Come from over there.’ He just grabbed the baby and just ran over here,” neighbor Nichala Glass said.

Glass and her sister Nina Ballard live across the street.

“The father was coming this way with the son,” Ballard said. “And I’m like ‘Where’s your wife?’ ”

Ballard said the injured father told her his wife was not home, that only he and his 6-year-old were inside at the time of the Cobb County home explosion. The two were sleeping before the house exploded, WSB-TV reporters learned.

Cobb County home explosion:
‘The floor shook’

Said another neighbor, Naomi Calderon: “I didn’t know what it was, but it shook the entire house. The floor shook, and I was just terrified. I had no idea what it could be.”

When firefighters arrived, flames were coming from the back of the house. Paramedics rushed the victims to the hospital.

“The child was a little bit more severely burned. I’m not sure to what extent of the burns are,” said Denell Boyd from the Cobb County Fire Department.

Crews were still at the scene the next day investigating to learn the cause of the explosion.

Investigators are trying to determine the cause of a Cobb County home explosion northwest of Atlanta that severely burned a man and his 6-year-old son.

Three workers suffer anhydrous ammonia burns

From KGAB-AM radio news, Cheyenne, Wyoming: Three Union Pacific Railroad employees were taken to the hospital after an anhydrous ammonia leak in the Cheyenne rail yard.

Kristen South, a spokesperson for Union Pacific, said the incident occurred when the pressure-relief valve on a tank car of anhydrous ammonia briefly released and re-closed. “Repairs were made to the car, and Union Pacific is investigating why the valve released,” South said.

South said she did not know how many gallons of anhydrous ammonia were released, or if the workers were residents of Cheyenne. She said all three were taken to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center for observation and released.

Fireworks and burn injuries
go hand-in-hand

From KTXS-TV, Abilene, Texas: More than 40 percent of all fireworks-related injuries are burns.

According to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), an average of 280 Americans visit the emergency room each day in the month leading to the Fourth of July.

“A burn injury that we commonly see sometimes from sparklers or Roman candle injuries will be more of a flash-type burn to the hand,” said Dr. Edward Brooks with My Emergency Room 24/7 and Urgent Care in Abilene.

While minor fireworks-related injuries can be treated with a cold compress and ointment, Brooks said treatments for fireworks-related injuries can get as extensive as surgery.