Boy Burned By Spray Cans

A 12-year-old Coeur d’Alene boy is recovering at a Seattle hospital with severe burns suffered when two spray cans exploded.

Andrew A. Ross was listed in satisfactory condition Friday at Harborview Medical Center with facial burns. A hospital spokesman said the boy is improving.

Ross was injured Wednesday evening while playing in his grandmother’s backyard. His grandmother told police the boy had been playing in a tunnel he dug in the yard.

Police found two empty spray cans and a BB gun laying near the tunnel. Both cans had been pierced by BBs, according to police.

The boy told his mother he lit a lighter after shooting the cans, triggering the explosion. She told officers she found the lighter in her son’s pants pocket.

Officers put wet towels over the boy’s face and comforted him until paramedics arrived. He was taken to Kootenai Medical Center and flown to Harborview, which has a unit that specializes in treating burn victims.