The Day Of The Fire Storm!  PRO

My Story: The Day of the fire storm!

I was at Boy Scout Camp when I discovered the terrible damage a fire storm could do to my life. It was a lazy afternoon very hot and dry. John and I were sent back to camp to start dinner for the guys. When I got back to camp I discovered that the camp fire looked as if it had gone out. So I decided to rebuild the fire to get it ready for our meal. So I gathered fire wood and placed it on the coals and tried to get it to burn. It would not start so I decided to pour some Kerosene on the wood figuring it would help get the fire started sooner so that John and I could start dinner sooner for the troop. So I poured the Kerosene on the wood and all of a sudden the fire ignited. It then traveled up the liquid and into the can I was holding in my hand. Within seconds the can exploded in my hand sending burning Kerosene streaming in every direction and most of the burning fuel landed on my lower right leg and it burst into flames.

It was so surreal I looked down as the heat started piercing through to my leg and I began screaming. I was 12 years old and my leg was burning out of control. I screamed for help and through myself to the ground. I began to roll and roll and the more I rolled the more the ground burst into flames around me. I rolled into a tent it caught on fire. I was screaming because of the pain and crying out for help. I started thinking this is it I am going to burn to death and right at that moment another Boy Scout came to my rescue. John had a blanket in his hand and he grabbed me and wrapped it around my leg to put out the fire. Once he put out my leg he then proceeded to put out the tent and the burning ground around us.

I laid there in shock and disbelief and the horrible pain started getting worse. John held me and asked me to hang in there because he was going to get help. He ran like the wind for about a mile to the first aid head quarters in the park. I laid there all alone on the ground thinking, “Why did I do that!” then the thoughts crept in, “Is this it!” It seemed as if I laid for ever.

The Rangers came and the troop leaders came as fast as they could. They cut my jeans off and started cleaning out my badly burned leg. As they pulled the blanket off of my leg part of my jeans and burnt flesh came off with it. I screamed in pain. I heard one man get sick and throw up and another say, “Oh my Lord!” I was burned from my ankle to just above the knee. I still remember the awe full smell rising up off my leg. All I could do was moan and cry because of the excruciating pain inflicted from this fire. All I could do was keep asking questions, “What happened?” “Where did the fire come from?” “Why did this happen to me?” I was stunned by how quickly I had caught on fire.

It took the troop leaders 4 hours before they finally got me to a hospital. It was a horrible 4 hour trip from the mountains to the hospital. As I rode in a truck I just moaned as my driver a Boy Scout leader just encouraged me to hang in there, I remember he turned his Air Conditioning on to the floor section so that cold air could blow onto my leg. My flesh was hanging off and I was wishing for a miracle as I looked at my deformed leg. I thought this could not be my leg. When we arrived at the hospital the doctors started to work on my leg immediately. They cleaned it up and put salve on it then wrapped with burn wrap.

My mom showed up at the hospital in tears asking, “What happened?” The doctors informed my mom that I had second and third degree burns on the lower half of my leg. I remember the doctor telling her the importance of making sure that she made sure that my leg did not become infected. So daily she would clean my leg off. I would not look at my leg – my mom said it looked horrible almost like hamburger. But eventually I did heal. I often think about that day. It is etched into...