Hillcrest Burn Center Sees Increase In Patients Following Storm, Debris Recovery

Lots of people are burning tree limbs and other debris from the recent storm damage.

That's illegal to do inside the city limits of Tulsa and it can also be dangerous.

Hillcrest's burn center has already seen patients who got burned while setting their brush on fire. Jessica Pilgrim has worked in the burn center for three years and says she usually sees more people with burns during the spring and summer.

"Anywhere from your first degree, what looks like a sunburn all the way to what we call a third degree of full thickness burn that requires surgery and pretty long and hard recovery," Pilgrim said.

She says they've had four calls about brush fire-related burns since the storms.

"We actually expect that number to grow as more people begin to clean up their yards."

Chief Michael Baker says setting any kind of fire inside the city limits of Tulsa is against the law and city leaders say people will be fined if they're caught doing it.

"Open burning of material that have come off damaged trees and lines are not authorized to be burned in your yard. There's no burning we are not in a condition at all, at any time within the city where you can do that," Baker said.

Pilgrim says burn injuries are extremely painful and can take a long time to heal and it only takes a few seconds for something to go wrong.

"They're throwing gasoline on the fire and then it's coming back and hitting them in the chest, in the stomach, in the face, legs," Pilgrim said.

She says a lot of times, people don't know what's in the brush pile which can make matters worse.

"They'll have some aerosol or an accelerant inside of it that they were unaware of," Pilgrim said

Pilgrim says if people do decide to burn anything, they need to wear the proper clothing and shoes, be mindful of who is around, how close they are to buildings, and make sure the wind isn't blowing more than 15 miles an hour.

Be sure to check your local laws and regulations within your county to make sure brush burning isn't banned or a permit isn't required to do so.