Indianapolis, September 23, 2010 -- Every year as the leaves start to turn and a chill returns to the air, many Hoosiers begin burning brush, leaves and trash in their own backyards.  On many occasions they even host bonfires, cookouts and campfires.  Sometimes accelerants like gasoline or other dangerously flammable liquids are added to these fires causing explosions resulting in severe burn injuries, and in some cases, death. 
With the first day of fall the Richard M. Fairbanks Burn Center at Wishard hopes to decrease the number of burn injuries by educating the community about the dangers of accelerant use.  Dry conditions in central Indiana make the issue even more important this fall.  The reality is flammable liquid-related burns are preventable. 
According to the National Fire Protection Association, each year in the U.S. alone, there are over 6,000 gasoline-related residential fires.  These fires result in approximately 500 deaths, and many more are treated in hospital emergency rooms or hospitalized for gasoline-related burns.   
"Our burn center is seeing an increase in the number of patients with severe burns including airway burns resulting from the use of accelerants while burning brush and garbage," said Dr. Rajiv Sood, medical director of the Richard M. Fairbanks Burn Center at Wishard and associate professor of plastic surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine. "This is a totally preventable injury.  Remember, experience does not prevent injury." 
One of only 50 burn centers in the United States verified by the American College of Surgeons and the American Burn Association, the Richard M. Fairbanks Burn Center at Wishard treats more than 350 inpatients and 1,500 outpatients each year.  Since 1993, the burn center has seen an increase of approximately 15 percent per year in the number of patients treated.  The burn center at Wishard is regarded as one of the finest and most progressive burn centers in the United States.   
For more information about burn prevention, please call the Richard M. Fairbanks Burn Center at Wishard’s burn prevention hotline at 1-866-339-BURN.