Massachusetts family hopes to spread awareness after toddler burned by fire pit

BOSTON (WWLP) – A Massachusetts family is hoping to spread awareness after their toddler was severely burned by ashes from a fire pit.

On behalf of the Griggs family, the Shriners Children’s Hospital in Boston shared the story of 2-year-old Scarlett who suffered from second-degree burns on her right foot and third-degree burns on her left foot.

During the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, the family was in search of doing something different and decided to camp out in their backyard with tents and a fire pit. At the end of their night, the family said they put out the fire pit and it rained overnight.

The next afternoon, their daughter walked over the ashes which resulted in a trip to the emergency department.

“If we waited any longer the extent would have been worse,” said Nathan Griggs, Scarlett’s dad. “Our local hospital referred us to Shriners Children’s Boston for specialized burn care. Scarlett stayed at Shriners for three weeks while they saved her foot through multiple surgeries. After this experience, we’ve learned not to make any assumptions about what is safe, especially when I’m around anything hot. You need to be aware, and I don’t think a lot of people are. Shriners is an amazing organization and helped our family so much through this time and helped save Scarlett’s feet.”

Shriners is preparing for Scarlette’s eighth surgery on her feet to help repair skin grafts.

“I stayed there every night at Shriners Children’s during our initial stay, not knowing what’s going to happen with Scarlett or her feet,” said Jenny Griggs. “She was so brave and the staff helped make sure she was happy for a lot of the day, but it was challenging for me. Scarlett’s Child Life Specialists were so amazing and kept bringing in toys, coloring, and instruments since Scarlett couldn’t bear weight for weeks after surgeries. It was such an amazing atmosphere. Scarlett is 6 years old now and every time we go back to Shriners, she looks forward to it. This accident won’t define her. Scarlett can do everything, dance, gymnastics, soccer, and baseball, which is great. Because of Shriners Children’s, there are no limitations.”

Tips to keep fire pits safe provided by Shriners:

• Make sure the fire pit and fire pit area are not left unattended.
• Pour cold water on the hot area after you are done with the fire pit, even if it rains
• For beach fire pits, do not add more sand in an attempt to extinguish the fire or get rid of the heat as sand is a great insulator of heat. Set up beach fires 50 feet away from seagrass and other flammable materials.
• Mark the spot where you had your fire pit with flags or other markers.

In Massachusetts, fire pits are only legal if used for cooking or during the open burning season from January 15 to May 1 in certain communities permitted by the fire department.

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