CHELMSFORD, MASS. (WHDH) - A 3-year-old boy is recovering after he fell into a makeshift fire pit that was built by a lake in Chelmsford over the weekend.
Emergency crews were called to Varney Park Beach Sunday afternoon for reports of the incident and found the child suffering from burns on his calf, behind and lower back, officials said. They said the fire was still going but the people who set it were gone.
“The child went over to the fire pit and basically touched what appears to be a fire ring, the ring that goes around the fire,” said Deputy Police Chief Colin Spence.
The boy was with his parents, and investigators claim they were not the ones to set the fire and were watching their son. Police are chalking it up to an accident but do say signs on the property mandate “no fires of any kind” and “no cooking or open flames”.
“With children running around – it’s a park, kids are gonna run around – I definitely don’t like the idea of fire near little ones,” said Taylor Higgins, who was visiting the park with a 4-year-old herself.
The boy is expected to be OK but police say they are looking to speak with the people responsible for igniting the fire.
“We have been conducting an investigation as far as who lit the fire. We don’t have any info on that as of yet,” said Spence. “Summer’s here now and people obviously have to practice more safety.”
Fire officials say that fires at Varney Beach have been a problem for a while now.
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)