Seven children hurt while lighting fire with model car fuel

South Yorkshire Fire Service said seven children were taken to hospital with burns last night after using the fuel with an outdoor brazier in a back garden in Edlington, near Doncaster.

A spokesman said the group, who are aged between seven and 13, were believed to have used the nitrus methane to help light a fire. After the fuel ignited it exploded, causing some severe burns including face and chest injuries.

Fire crews and ambulances were called to an address in Dukes Crescent at around 5.45pm.

Edlington station manager Neil Baugh said it was the second such incident he has attended in a matter of weeks.

He said: "It appears that these young people had been trying to get the fire going when they poured this model car fuel – nitrus methane – onto it.

"It is so volatile it just explodes, and some of this group have suffered some severe burns. It appears to be a bit of a trend and it is extremely worrying.

"I would urge young people not to play with fire of any kind, and definitely not with any accelerate such as this fuel or petrol."

He added: " We are coming into the barbecue season and I would also urge local people only to use approved barbecue lighters for their own safety. Never use other accelerants to start a barbecue or any other kind of fire."

None of the group of seven are believed to have suffered life threatening injuries, but the fire service said some may be scarred for life because of the severity of the burns.

In the first incident, on 10 April, a man and a woman in their 20s suffered burns to the face, hair and chest in a similar incident in Hazelwood Drive, in Swinton.