TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Burned Girl In Fair Condition After Clearwater Fire

ADVERTISEMENT

By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 25, 2008

Updated: 02/25/2008 04:07 pm

CLEARWATER -- The condition of a 9-year-old girl who was severely burned in a house fire early Saturday has been upgraded, while the cause of the blaze has been traced to a lit cigarette.

Makeila Pressley was initially in stable but critical condition after the blaze at 916 Eldridge St., family members said. But today she was in fair condition at Shriners Hospitals for Children-Cincinnati, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Pressley was among 10 children and four adults in the house when a fire erupted in a back bedroom shortly after midnight. Investigators have deemed the cause accidental and have determined a lit cigarette had been left in the bedroom where Pressley was sleeping, said Clearwater public safety spokeswoman Elizabeth Daly-Watts.

When the smoke detector sounded, family members said they started searching the house for signs of fire. An uncle tried to open the door to the third-grader's bedroom but the door was jammed. When the uncle kicked the door open, flames spewed out, according to Barbara Jenkins, the girl's great-aunt who is speaking for the family.

The uncle saw the girl in her bed with flames around her, Jenkins told The Tampa Tribune Saturday. Efforts to bring the fire under control failed.

Meanwhile, the girl's grandfather broke the room's window and turned a garden hose on the fire at about the same moment Pressley walked out of the room and through the house, Jenkins said. Her mother grabbed her, pushed her down and smothered the flames.

The girl, a student at Largo Central Elementary, was alert and talking before paramedics arrived.

Jenkins said the girl was burned over 54 percent of her body. The burns were confined to the waist up. Her legs had minor burns.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT