A man suffered serious burn injuries and a girl was also injured in a flash fire that occurred in the kitchen of a Lakeville, Massachusetts, home Friday.
The Lakeville Fire Department says firefighters and EMS responded to a single-family residence on Woodland Ridge Drive for a cooking-related fire. The fire was extinguished before first responders arrived, but responding firefighters found two people with burn injuries.
Due to the severity of the man’s injuries, a medical helicopter was requested, and the man was flown to Rhode Island Hospital for treatment of significant burn injuries, fire officials said. The girl was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital with burns that did not appear to be serious.
According to the fire department, the incident occurred when the homeowners were serving a traditional Portuguese dish called Chouriço à Bombeiro, which translates to “firefighter’s chorizo” in English. The dish involves the use of an open flame to cook the meat in a serving dish.
As additional alcohol was being added to maintain the flame, a flash fire occurred, and then a gust of wind reportedly came through an open window at that instant, causing the flashfire to spread about the kitchen, the fire department said.
The man and girl were in close proximity to the fire at the time of the flash, causing burn injuries to both.
Bystanders used towels, rugs, and blankets to smother the victims who were involved in fire, and then used a readily available dry chemical fire extinguisher to put out the remaining fire, officials said.
The state police fire investigation unit assigned to the state fire marshal’s office responded to the scene, but the incident was just a “freak accident,” Deputy Chief Pamela Garant told NBC10 Boston affiliate WJAR.
“They took many precautions. They’ve done successfully in the past for many years,” Garant said. “This was just the one incident where things went awry. There was no malice.”
Damage to the home was minimal, the fire department said, and the family was not displaced.