A Hoke County fire chief who was seriously burned while battling a woods fire will undergo a skin graft procedure Tuesday as he continues to recover from his injuries.
Michael Scott, chief of the Hillcrest Fire Department, is being treated at the N.C. Jaycee Burn Center in Chapel Hill for burns on his arms and face.
Scott was hurt Friday when an outdoors fire on Lawrence McCollum Road spread to an aluminum storage shed filled with equipment and flammable liquids, said Maj. Freddy Johnson Sr. of the Hoke County Sheriff's Office.
Scott was standing near the door of the shed when another firefighter went in, setting off an explosion from the built-up gas vapors, Johnson said.
Scott's hair, eyebrows, whiskers and eyelashes were singed and he had second- and third-degree burns on his arms.
Doctors will clean his wounds and graft "pigskin" onto his forearms, Scott's wife, Michelle Scott, said today. She also is a firefighter with the Hillcrest Fire Department and was working the fire when her husband was burned.
"He's holding up," she said of her husband. "Just keep him in your prayers."