PORT ANGELES — Nelson Blewett is done playing with fire.
The 22-year-old Port Angeles resident received second- and third-degree burns on his face and right hand Monday night when a night drinking beer with some of his friends got out of hand.
Blewett said he and his friends were taking turns spraying each other with deodorant — using a brand of body spray called “TAG” — and lighting it at a home on Old Road in east Port Angeles.
He received serious burns when someone squirted lighter fluid on him after he lit the deodorant, he said.
Blewett said he jumped from the second-story porch of the residence and rolled on the ground to put out the fire.
“I think he didn’t think it would be as bad as it turned out to be,” he said, referring to the person who squirted him with the fluid.
“Inebriation probably played a bit.”
The group was just playing around, he said. Blewett said he wasn’t inspired by Internet videos showing young people spraying their skin with a flammable liquid and lighting it.
A friend of Blewett’s who declined to provide her name said the flames lasted for about 30 to 45 seconds.
Clallam County Fire District No. 2 volunteers transferred Blewett to Olympic Medical Center, where he was released at 4 a.m. Tuesday.
Fire Chief Jon Bugher said two paramedics and 12 emergency medical technicians responded.
“That young man is incredibly lucky,” he said, “just incredibly lucky that he did not inhale the flames and cause permanent damage to his esophagus and lungs.
“I’m just shaking my head in disbelief. If kids are considering doing this kind of thing, they should really think twice about it.”
Because of the burns, one of Blewett’s fingers is completely blistered, and he is missing much of his skin on the rest of the hand.
Blewett said he is taking pain medication.
Bugher had said Tuesday that the man was taken to Harborview Medical Center. Wednesday,he said he had expected him to be transferred there from OMC.
Does not want kids to think it is fun
Blewett said he won’t play with fire again and wants his burns to be a lesson for children.
“I don’t want kids to think it’s fun to have people on fire,” he said. “This is excruciating.”
Contrary to the original report on Tuesday, a deputy did respond to the incident after hearing the call over the radio, said Deputy Ron Cameron with the Clallam County Sheriff’s Department.
The deputy arrived after Blewett had been taken to OMC, Cameron said.
Cameron said the sheriff’s department will review a report on the incident and determine if criminal charges would be appropriate.
He said the deputy will file a report when he returns to work on Friday.
Cameron said the report was not filed the night of the incident because the deputy did not have enough information.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
