NW Indiana boy, 7, burned after pouring gas on outdoor fire

NEW CHICAGO, Ind. -- A 7-year-old northwestern Indiana boy was airlifted to a Chicago hospital with burns after he poured gasoline on an outdoor fire.

Several boys were playing Sunday near a fire between mobile homes when the boy was burned in the Lake County town of New Chicago.

Fire Chief Joe Eakins tells The (Northwest Indiana) Times that a neighbor heard a sound like "whoof," looked out and saw one of the boy's pants on fire.

A neighbor put out flames on the boy with a coat, while the boy's father was burned trying to stomp out the fire. He was treated for burns to his ankle.

Firefighters took the boy to a Hobart airport, where he was airlifted to the University of Chicago Medical Center.

The boy's condition wasn't immediately known.