Child Injury Lawyer Blog
By David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
Recently, five toddlers and three adults were hospitalized after becoming ill from carbon monoxide fumes at a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania day care center. Employees at the Community Preschool and Nursery, located on the North Side, call 9-1-1 after several people complained of dizziness, headaches and nausea. Oxygen was administered to victims at the scene before it was decided hospital treatment was needed. Emergency physicians and paramedics tested the blood of those people in the building, which revealed the high levels of the gas. Three children were transported by ambulance to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, the two other children were taken by private automobiles. The three adult victims were able to walk the half-block to Allegheny General Hospital. The cause of the leak was pinpointed to the furnace in the daycare center’s building, the leak could have potentially been deadly. In order for repairs to be made the gas company has suspended service to the building. For more read 5 children and 3 adults escape poisoning after carbon monoxide leak in daycare center building.
Seven children had to be evacuated from a residential day care center in Alameda, California, after a fire broke out at the center. Fire fighters were able to extinguish the flames within 30 minutes and, luckily, no one was hurt or personally injured in the fire at Marva’s Happy Town FCC. Marva Lyons, owner of the day are, said all the children were taking naps when the fire broke out. The day care center also serves as the home for Lyons, her adult daughter, and 6-year-old granddaughter. Lyons said she went upstairs after she heard a pop and immediately saw the amount of smoke. Lyons waited down the street with the children while fire fighters searched for hot spots inside the home. Also while waiting, Lyons was hurriedly flipping through her contact book to notify the parents of the children about the incident. Acting Fire Chief Mike Fisher said the fire began upstairs, and although there were not many flames there was a lot of smoke. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. For more read 
It is well known that children are curious. Unfortunately, many children also do not recognize the dangers of lighters and matches. Child’s play with flammable producing items like matches and lighters can lead to dangerous fires that can and do cause serious personal injuries and death. In Brooklyn, New York, it was reported that a fire started by a child playing with matches caused the death of a 4 month old baby girl named Aniyah Vaughan. See 
Lighters are common household items. It should also be noted that lighters are very dangerous in the hands of a toddler or child. In North Carolina, a 2 year old boy suffered third degree burns after he lit his clothes on fire from a lighter. The boy’s parents were charged with negligent child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury. Investigating officers observed marijuana and other drug paraphernalia at the the home. The incident may have occurred after the parents had smoked marijuana.
Many of us can remember our parents telling us not to jump on the bed when we were kids. It turns out that they were not just being spoilsports; a vigorous bed jumping session in Massachusetts recently started a house fire that burned down two homes and damaged a neighboring apartment building. The blaze did not seriously injure anyone, but the homes destroyed were three-family residences and the apartment building had to be evacuated as well, so it left thirty-three people homeless just in time for the state’s first snowfall.
The 
In Prince George County, Maryland, firefighters responded to a fire at an apartment complex. It was reported at the
The 
The Lewiston (Maine) Sun Journal reports that an early morning fire claimed the life of 9-year old Taylor McQueeney. A candle used as a light source, after the Central Maine Power Company shut off the electricity to the apartment for non-payment, ignited a bed. The fire spread quickly. Taylor McQueeney had spent the night with her cousins, 18-year old Nathan Cote and 25-year old Justin Cote. Craig Austin, age 39, rented the apartment. According to police, the men ran an extension cord from a second floor apartment up to their third floor apartment to power a television and video games, but used candles for light.