‘Ball of fire’: Utah man severely burned during backyard accident with gasoline
Jan 26, 2023, 6:59 PM | Updated: 7:06 pm
OREM, Utah – A Utah man suffered severe burns to his hands and face while trying to start a fire in his backyard fire pit. The terrifying moments were caught by the family’s security camera.
The accident happened on Jan. 14 as Jason Hone was working in the backyard of his Orem home. The video shows him crouch down at the fire pit and arrange pieces of wood before being enveloped in a ball of fire.
“He believes it was some static that actually caught the can of gas on fire,” said neighbor Ryan Di Lello. “He said that he kind of flinched. So the gas went all over his face, his hands.”
The father of four frantically jumped away from the fire pit and threw himself onto the snow-covered ground.
“Just that ball of fire, just explode. It was pretty hard to watch,” Di Lello said.
With the flames on his clothing and beard still burning, Hone removed his coat and forcefully swatted at his face as he ran back to the house.
Hone, who is also recovering from back surgery in December, was rushed to the emergency room where doctors determined he’s in urgent need of another back surgery.
“He’s pretty much on the border of being paralyzed,” Di Lello said. “If he does one wrong move he could sever the nerve in his back completely.”
Di Lello said the Hone family is trying to stay in high spirits but that the financial burden is mounting.
“But the truth is they’re in really, really bad shape,” he said.
Di Lello and his wife created a GoFundMe to help the Hone family with medical bills from the burn injuries and upcoming back surgery as well as the ongoing, expensive care for their daughter born with a rare genetic disorder.
“We love the hone family. They’re so thoughtful,” Di Lello said. “Just hard to see something like this happen to a family that was already struggling. They really have had the world taken out from under them.”
Hone is now home from the hospital and recovering at home but is still in a lot of pain, his wife told KSL TV.
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