A Close Call with Fire
A young boy suffers life-altering burns in a tragic domestic accident involving matches.
Last Sunday afternoon while the two little boys of Chas. B. Pratt were playing, they got hold of some matches, and as a result the clothing of four-year-old Wallace took fire and was completely burned off of him from the waist up, except the undershirt. His neck and ears, especially the left one, were badly burned which will mark the little fellow for life. He is getting along today as well as could be expected from so severe a burn.
“His neck and ears, especially the left one, were badly burned which will mark the little fellow for life.”
This story highlights the domestic hazards of a pre-electrical, pre-safety-standard era. It serves as a reminder of the fragility of childhood in 19th-century boomtowns where medical care was emerging but often primitive.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.