Nicholson fire injures four
Children playing with lighter caused blaze
BY ANGELA GARY
Four people were injured in a fire Saturday morning in Nicholson that started when two young children were playing with a lighter.
Seth Southerland, 4-years-old, was flown to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta with second and third degree burns on 60 percent of his body. On Monday, the child was transferred to the Shriners Hospital for Children in Cincinnati, Ohio.
His father, Matthew Southerland, was also flown to Grady. The father has second and third degree burns on 20 to 30 percent of his body. He remains in critical condition.
Another adult suffered from smoke inhalation and another 4-year-old had first-degree burns. They were both taken to Athens Regional Medical Center and have been released.
The fire reportedly started when one of the children was playing with a lighter and an aerosol can in a bedroom of the mobile home, according to Steve Nichols, emergency services director for Jackson County and assistant chief of the Nicholson Fire Department.
