S. Hall woman severely burned in flash fire

OAKWDOOD - Hall County authorities said a woman suffered severe facial and respiratory burns Thursday morning at her home on Poplar Springs Road.

Hall County Fire Chief David Kimbrell said the burn victim uses home oxygen and she apparently was trying to light a cigarette when there was a flash fire. He said he's not sure of her current condition.

"When there's a flash fire there it depends on whether you're breathing in or breathing out as far as the severity of the damage," he said. "The only way to do that is at the hospital through further tests."

Kimbrell said the woman, whose name has not been released, was in her mid 70s.

He said she suffered mostly second-degree burns from her mid-chest area to the top of her head.

The burn victim was taken to Northeast Georgia Medical Center, since weather conditions prevented her from being flown to the burn center at Grady in Atlanta. Kimbrell said she will be evaluated to see if she needs to be transported to another facility.