Child injured in vehicle fire
A two-year-old has suffered burns from a minivan fire in Santa Barbara. Firefighters say the vehicle was full of flames when they arrived on Santa Teresita Drive at 10:50 a.m.
The cause of the fire is not known. Santa Barbara Police have released the name of the child’s mother. She is 29-year-old Viviana Judith Wink of Santa Barbara.
A neighbor, Matt Barnett, says he heard a car alarm going off continuously, saw smoke, and ran up the street with a garden hose over his shoulder. He attached it to a nearby valve and started dousing the flames. Barnett said his wife rescued the female child from the burning vehicle. He believed the girl’s mother was inside a house nearby at the time.
One resident said the mother was there as a caretaker and had just arrived.
Santa Barbara City and County Firefighters came to the scene to attack the fire and provide medical aide to the injured child. AMR transported the child to Cottage Hospital. One firefighter said the child suffered second and third degree burns to her face. He said she would be transferred to a special burn center at West Hills Hospital.
Santa Barbara City Batalion Chief Lee Waldron said the fire appeared to have started after the vehicle had stopped and he did not believe it was burning while it was being driven. He said firefighters had to use an absorbent sand to stop burning fuel from a leak that was flowing down the street.
Child injured in vehicle fire 19080854