Man Gets 3rd-Degree Burns in Car Fire
A man was burned over nearly all of his body Sunday morning after his car caught fire in Northridge, authorities said.
The man, reportedly in his 30s, sustained third-degree burns over more than 95% of his body and suffered smoke inhalation, said Larry Weinberg, a spokesman for the Grossman Burn Center at Sherman Oaks Hospital.
“He is in extremely critical condition,” Weinberg said of the victim, who was not conscious when he arrived at the hospital. “This is a grave injury of an extent which few people survive.”
Witnesses reported seeing a man engulfed in flames get out of a Chevrolet Camaro about 11:30 a.m. near Balboa Boulevard and Superior Street, Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Jim Wells said.
People who saw the blaze had put out the fire on the man by the time firefighters arrived. The car was still burning.
“They basically rolled him up in blankets to put the flames out,” Wells said.
No cause of the fire has been established, he said.
The man, whose name was not disclosed, was taken to Northridge Hospital Medical Center and later transferred to Grossman Burn Center.
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