NORWOOD, Mass. — Many homes have their fireplaces roaring over the holidays, but according to the Hearth, Patio and Barbecue Association, only 45% percent of people with gas fireplaces realized the glass doors' potential to cause serious burns.
Kimberly Dempsey of Norwood knows all too well, and now she’s sharing her family's story about what happened to her baby girl and warning other parents about the dangers of gas fireplace glass doors.
“Our sweet baby girl touched our glass fronted fireplace almost an hour after we had turned it off. Her shrieks of pain were quickly met with red lesions on both hands,” Dempsey wrote in a Facebook post.
“It’s not a story that parents tell very often because they’re like ‘it’s a fireplace, of course it’s hot.’ But we didn’t think it would be that hot - to hurt her,” Dempsey told Boston 25 News anchor Heather Hegedus.
“It was on for maybe an hour or so and then we turned it off. And just suddenly my daughter started screaming and my husband ran to her,” she said.
Her daughter Wynne had touched the glass, which was still hot enough to give her second degree burns, she said.
“She was just inconsolable like couldn't get comfortable - flinging her hands around,” Depmsey said.
They rushed Wynne to the emergency room and the next day to Shriners Hospitals for Children. For two weeks doctors there would treat and dress Wynne’s burns to prevent infection. She temporarily couldn't use her hands and had to be spoon fed.
Wynne's doctor, burn surgeon Colleen Ryan, says it's a common injury. She estimates Shriners sees at least 20 children with fireplace burns a year. She says part of the problem, is fireplace design.
“The glass in front of gas fireplaces is designed not to shatter - it's tempered glass. However it's not like your oven. It actually gets very very hot and it remains hot for almost a half an hour after the fireplace is shut off,” Dr. Ryan said.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, glass-fronted gas fireplace burns lead to about 17,000 pediatric medical visits and 360 emergency room visits, each year.
95% of those burns are tothe palms of the hands. 3-11% of the cases require surgery.
After 2015 many companies now make fireplaces with protective screens, which would have protected Wynne. But the Dempsey's home was built in 2014 and they didn't know they needed a screen.
Fireplace expert Bruce Keltie of Commonwealth Fireplace in Norwood says you can retrofit your fireplace if it didn't come with a screen.
He says the add-on screens run anywhere $200 to $1,000.
“They are designed to prevent you from touching the glass behind it so you won't get burned, Keltie said. He added the screens themselves do not get hot.
Wynne is now healing beautifully. Her mother says, she hopes that by speaking out, it will help prevent other children from being burned this winter.
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