A junior firefighter with the Jackson Township Volunteer Fire Company was released from a hospital on Saturday after being burned during a training mishap on Sept. 17.
The 16-year-old junior firefighter was discharged from Lehigh Valley Hospital where he was treated for first-, second-, and third-degree burns after someone doused a brush pile in gasoline before lighting it on fire, according to WBRE-TV.
A controlled burn set as part of a training exercise to teach new members how to operate nozzles and other equipment quickly got out of control after 2.5 gallon can of gasoline was use to start the fire, Jackson Township Fire Chief Lester Wolcott told the news station.
State Fire Commissioner Ed Mann told the news station that certified instructors are supposed to oversee junior trainees during burns and that since gas was used, it's unlikely that one was there.
"Gas is just absolutely too volatile to be used as an accelerant with anything," he said. "Do not use it period. I do not care the amount."
The State Fire Commissioner's Office, Pennsylvania State Police Fire Marshall, Department of Labor and the fire company are currently investigating the incident.
