A 15-month-old girl is hospitalized with severe burns after finding sulfuric acid at home, prompting an investigation by the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office.
TARRANT COUNTY, Texas — A child is hospitalized with severe burns after an emergency response that included a Tarrant County hazardous materials team when first responders learned the child had been burned by a bottle of sulfuric acid.
“Just from the optics, it looks like it was just a terrible tragedy,” said Everman Fire Chief Landon Whatley.
The 15-month-old child was taken by air ambulance to Parkland Hospital in Dallas with severe burns to her abdomen and legs, according to the Everman Fire Department.
“Just a horrible occurrence of a small child getting into something that they shouldn’t have that likely shouldn’t have been where it was found,” Whatley said. “And bad things happened, unfortunately, to a small child.”
An Everman firefighter who pulled the child from the home was also treated for inhalation of chemical fumes and later released.
Friday, the child’s mother told WFAA the incident was an accident. The mom of three said her youngest, a 15-month-old daughter, found the bottle in a cabinet under the kitchen sink. The mom said she didn’t even know the bottle was there and that the child opened the cabinet while the mom wasn’t looking. The mother declined an on-camera interview but allowed a photograph inside the home showing a chemical stain in the middle of the kitchen floor where the acid spilled. She told WFAA she believes the bottle had been left behind by her father, a truck driver.
Authorities say sulfuric acid has a variety of industrial uses, though it can also be used in the manufacture of illegal drugs. Tarrant County narcotics detectives also responded to the scene Thursday night but investigators said nothing suspicious was found inside the home.
“We were puzzled why there would be a bottle of raw sulfuric acid literally in the middle of a home,” Whatley said. “Something that’s going to be that potent. It was puzzling for us as well.”
Investigators said the bottle was labeled sulfuric acid, though laboratory testing is underway to confirm the substance involved. The Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office is investigating and will determine whether any criminal charges are warranted.