An 11-year-old child suffered severe burns to their arms early Thursday after a fire broke out at Copper Ridge Apartments on West Highland Avenue in Ponca City, prompting an emergency helicopter flight to a hospital more than 80 miles away in Wichita, Kansas. Firefighters were dispatched to the complex at approximately 1:35 a.m., according to the City of Ponca City.
Ponca City firefighters arrived to find flames and black smoke coming from the apartment, according to firefighters cited by KFOR. Crews knocked down the flames and, per the City of Ponca City, contained the fire entirely to the single room where it originated, keeping it from spreading to other parts of the unit or to neighboring apartments.
While suppression crews worked to knock down the fire, firefighters simultaneously carried out emergency evacuations of residents in adjoining apartments to protect them from smoke and fire exposure, the city said. Residents living in the affected apartment self-evacuated during the incident, the station’s report notes.
Injured Child Flown to Kansas Burn Center
Local ambulance personnel gave the injured 11-year-old initial life-saving treatment at the scene before handing the child off to an Air Evac flight crew for transport to a Wichita hospital, according to the city. KFOR reported that the child was transported by helicopter to a hospital in Wichita after suffering severe burns to their arms…