12-year-old Deltona boy hospitalized for burns to face and chest

DELTONA -- A 12-year-old Deltona boy was hospitalized Thursday night after suffering burns on his face and chest, a Volusia County Sheriff's spokesman said.

Sheriff's deputies were dispatched to 2278 Flamingo Drive in Deltona after receiving a 911 call at 6:28 p.m. from a boy who frantically told dispatchers that his friend was playing with fire and got burned.

"Deputies rushed to the scene, with the first unit arriving two minutes later," Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson said. "Paramedics began treating the victim, Jamal Hinds, and then loaded him into an EVAC ambulance for transport to Florida Hospital Fish Memorial in Orange City. After stabilizing the teen, a Sheriff's Office helicopter flew the boy to Orlando Regional Medical Center in Orlando."

Meanwhile, Sheriff's investigators are interviewing witnesses and taking statements in an effort to determine what happened, Davidson said. Based on preliminary statements, the victim and three other boys were in the front yard of the home playing with a bath spray and a lighter when the combination ignited a fire.

The State Fire Marshal also is  investigating.

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