Local high school student hospitalized after getting burned in welding accident
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RIGBY – A Rigby High School student is recovering in the hospital after getting burned in a school welding accident last week.
The welding accident occurred around 10 a.m. Feb. 1, Central Fire District Chief Carl Anderson says in a news release.
A friend of the 15-year-old student tells EastIdahoNews.com she was hunched over doing a welding project and her shirt was close to the sparks. It caught fire and spread up her clothing.
“The burns were moderate to serious of nature, (but) were not life-threatening,” Anderson says.
The Jefferson Star reports the teacher in the class stepped in to help put out the flames. The girl’s friend says she ended up with second and third-degree burns on 30% of her body. The newspaper also reported the teacher received burns on his hands but was not hospitalized.
The girl was treated by emergency personnel and taken by ambulance to the Burn Center at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls. Her friend says the girl is in stable condition, and that her treatment is ongoing.
It’s not clear when she will be released.
Jefferson Joint County School District 251 spokeswoman Monica Pauley says no other students were involved and there was no damage to the building.
The district declined to comment further on the incident.