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Jack-o’-lantern explosion sends seven-year-old girl to burn center

ST. AUGUSTINE, FL (AP) – Authorities say a 7-year-old girl ended up at a north Florida burn center after her grandmother attempted to light their jack-o’-lantern with green flames using household chemicals.

The Florida Times-Union reports that 62-year-old Wanda Michelle Reyna called 911 Sunday evening, saying that fire had splattered on her granddaughter, so she threw the girl into the St. Augustine home’s pool. The girl’s father was already driving the girl to the hospital, but dispatchers diverted him to the nearest fire station.

St. Johns County Fire Rescue spokesman Lt. Jeremy Robshaw says the girl was taken to a Gainesville hospital.

A sheriff’s office report says the family had been following a YouTube video to make green flames using a mixture of Borax and antifreeze.

It was not immediately clear what injuries the girl suffered but Reyna told the Times-Union Monday that the girl was fine and that the sheriff’s office was blowing the accident out of proportion.