Paint vapors explode in the basement.

This is going to be a second-hand version of what happened to Danny on Tuesday, August 4th. The details may need to be changed, but this the version of the story that I heard.

Danny was at a house in Kaysville painting the basement. They were using a lacquer based paint. This type of paint produces a lot of vapors. Whenever you are using this kind of paint, safety precautions are taken, such as turning off all pilot lights and any potential sparks in the house. It is believed that all of these precautions had been taken.

Right now, no one is sure what the ignition source was. Danny was in a closet on a ladder painting when the vapors from the paint flashed off and ignited. This caused an explosion that blew out windows and blew door frames out of walls. Danny was fully engulfed in the flames and fell off of the ladder. A neighbor saw Danny come running out of the house fully engulfed in fire. That neighbor helped put Danny out and then ran into the house to put out some of the spot fires that had resulted from the explosion.

Danny had suffered 2nd and 3rd degree burns over 50% of his body. Paramedics arrived and took him to the nearest place that a life-flight helicopter could land. He was flown to the University of Utah hospital. He was taken to the ER and given a full medical evaluation and a CT scan to make sure he had not incurred a spinal or head injury from falling off of the ladder. When he was cleared from the ER, he was moved to the burn center.

Luckily it was not as bad as it could have been. Of the 50% of his body that was burned, about 80% were second degree burns and 20% were third degree burns. His legs, chest, face, back and head received second degree burns. His arms were burned the worst. The entire length of his arms from his wrist to his shoulders were third degree burns. The doctors had to make cuts in his skin the length of his arms to release the pressure due to the way the skin was tightening up and cutting off the blood flow. Also his nose and ears have some really deep burns that are third degree burns and are cause for concern.

I said that it was not as bad as it could have been, but it is still pretty bad. It will get worse before it gets better. Burns cause the body to pump fluids through the body at a rapid rate. Think of getting a big blister and all of the fluid that comes into it. Now imagine that blister over half of your body. Your body doesn't have enough fluid to keep that blister full. the body's response to this is to pump fluids to every part of the body. 6 hours after the burn, he was looking really swollen in the burnt areas. In 24 hours, his whole body will swell up like a balloon, even the areas that are not burned. The pain will be really bad. Right now it is a wait and see scenario. It is kind of hard to assess the severity of a bad burn for the first couple of days. A lot of it depends on the person and the way their body reacts.

There is a silver lining to this accident. Luckily Danny is young and in very good shape. As with everything health related, this is an advantage. Also, his hands and feet were not burned. When it comes to burns and healing, hands and feet are always problem areas. And most of all, his eyes were not burned. Even with really bad facial burns, his facial features still have their structure and his eyes and eyelids are still intact.

Thanks to all of the people who came to the hospital or wanted to come to the hospital. There was a huge group of friends and family there and an equal number of well wishers that wanted to be there. This is going to be a long, painful recovery for Danny. Bad burns are considered some of the worst injuries that can happen. Please keep him in your thoughts. All of your support is greatly appreciated.

We will be updating this blog periodically. Feel free to call Andy with questions or concerns.

"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."

-- Franklin D. Roosevelt