"Headline? I thought it was the whole story!"
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The Ottawa Fire Department said 62-year-old Stanley Hill had been doing some cleanup work on a rural property at 4679 Ridge Rd., off Walkley Road, about 10 a.m. when, they believe, a spark from the saw caused a small explosion and a flash of fire to spread up his body and head.
Mr. Hill put out the fire. He drove himself about 100 meters across the road to a farmhouse where a startled female resident called 911. Paramedics treated him for second- and third-degree burns to his face, head, chest, back, arms and legs.
Mr. Hill was able to tell paramedics what had happened.
The black GMC pickup truck he used to go across the street for help sat in the driveway yesterday afternoon. Ottawa police were still on the scene, where old cars and farm equipment, rusted to a red skeleton, lay strewn around the patch of scorched grass where a small fire had been started after the incident.
J.P. Trottier, a spokesman for Ottawa Paramedic Services, said the man was likely hired to do maintenance work on the property and was alone when the incident occurred.
"His condition this morning was serious," he said, adding such injuries tend to worsen. Mr. Trottier said he couldn't comment further on the man's condition, or the extent of his injuries, but did say the man was able to talk to medics.
"He (said) a spark from the chainsaw ignited the fuel. It just went up. I know he took off some of his clothes, because they were burning."
Ottawa District Fire Chief Lyle Fraser said he doubts the man will be released from hospital soon, adding that Mr. Hill was first taken to the General campus of the Ottawa Hospital for "fairly extensive burns."
"I couldn't see them releasing him soon. There's always a risk of infection, too," he said.
Fire officials believed they were responding to an explosion, and Mr. Fraser said several trucks were sent, but the small fire behind the shed was put out quickly.
At the scene, Ottawa police Sgt. Wayne Bell said the incident was ruled as an accident. He also said the machine shed and farmhouse across the road sits on property owned by the National Capital Commission, but is being leased by a long-time resident.
There was no property damage as a result of the fire.
© The Ottawa Citizen 2006