Gas fireplaces are an important feature in many Colorado homes. They add ambiance and warmth on chilly winter nights.
Unfortunately, many people don’t know about a hidden danger these fireplaces may pose to children.
Since 2006, the Children’s Hospital Burn Center has seen a 50 percent increase in burns to hands from the glass doors on fireplaces.
“We see on average two to three new patients per week (with this injury) in our outpatient burn clinic,” said Angela Drelles, a burn center nurse.
The problem? Many glass fireplace doors do not have protective screens. While the glass door definitely protects children from the fire itself, it doesn’t necessarily protect kids from the heat of the fire.
The surface temperature of a glass fireplace door can rise to 200 degrees in just six minutes. Contact with the glass can result in second- or third-degree burns.
One local family learned about this danger on Christmas Eve. Three generations of the family gathered together that night. The youngest grandchild, who had just learned to walk, took about three steps away from his mom. In a matter of seconds, Reeve Thomas was at the fireplace, with his hands stuck to the glass doors.
Brynn Thomas immediately pulled Reeve away, but it was too late.
“His hands were blistered,” she said. “He had white blisters on both of the palms and every fingertip.”
The family rushed to Children’s Hospital, where doctors and nurses in the emergency room knew in an instant what had happened.
Fortunately for Reeve, he did not need skin grafting. Doctors were able to keep his hands in soft casts for more than three weeks, allowing his skin to heal.
“Our goal is for the wounds to heal in 21 days,” Drelles said.
The Thomases are sharing their story to alert others to the dangers of glass fireplace doors. Grandfather Jim Reeve is a general contractor who says the distributors he works with never sell glass doors without protective screens, which act as a barrier against the heat of the flames.
“People are compromising (safety) and taking them away, because they don’t feel it looks as good with the screen on,” he says.
Screens range in price from $50 to $700.
Nurses and doctors at Children’s say many of these accidents happen at open houses, where the fire has been burning for hours and the screens are removed to show off the beauty of the fireplace.
Brynn Thomas’ son is going to be OK. But she still tears up when she talks his first Christmas.
“My husband and I took our Christmas decorations down as fast as we could,” she said. “We do not want to remember this — which we will forever.”
For more information on household burn prevention, visit .
