Man burned in freak accident with fish smoker and methylated spirits

Tangaroa Yorke is a teacher-aide at Lynmore School in Rotorua. Photo / Supplied

WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES

A Rotorua man, who is about to become a dad for the first time, is in hospital after a freak accident with a fish smoker left him covered in methylated spirits and on fire.

Tangaroa Yorke, a 20-year-old teacher-aide from Rotorua, is the main source of income for him and his partner, and also offers financial support to his aunty.

He will be recovering in Waikato Hospital for two weeks.

Last Saturday Yorke was at his brother's home in Katikati when his brothers brought home fish, which they decided to smoke that evening.

Tangaroa Yorke is in Waikato Hospital recovering from a bad burn. Photo / Supplied

Yorke's brother pulled the lid off the fish smoker and the fire "blazed out of it" Yorke said.

He tried to smother the fire, first by putting the lid back on. When that failed, he took the lid off and tried to cover it with a plank of wood, then tried blowing it.

"I just remember walking past the smoker and I think he knocked it, and the methylated spirits that was on fire spilt over my left leg," Yorke said.

Tangaroa Yorke's badly burned arm. Photo / Supplied

The methylated spirits travelled down his leg and his clothes quickly caught alight.

"When the flames got on me ... I could hear a big whoosh," he remembered.

He desperately tried to whack the fire out with his left hand, only to have his entire hand catch on fire as the meths transferred.

His sleeve was burnt off and his arm burnt all the way around.

"I remember I just ran on to the lawn and dropped and rolled around."

Yorke said could smell burning flesh and singed hair, which he could still smell in hospital.

Tangaroa Yorke's badly burned leg. Photo / Supplied

He got most of the fire out, and his brother jumped on him and covered him to help.

His sock remained on fire "but I couldn't reach it because I was in so much pain".

His brother pulled it off, revealing the most badly burned part of his body.

His family were left in shock "and they were scared, really scared," he said.

The ambulance arrived and he walked himself to the paramedics through the pain, desperate to get help.

The burns were wrapped in plastic cling film and it was on the drive to Tauranga Hospital that the pain intensified and he became cold.

After arriving, he was given gas and air to breathe for pain relief and all his burnt skin was scraped off.

"I was still awake ... I could definitely feel it, it was painful."

His burns were accompanied by blisters and a small burn on his face near his eye.

From there on he could not move, and he was taken to Waikato Hospital at 3am on Sunday, where he has been since.

As the days pass, the pain relief has become more effective and his dizziness, headaches and high temperature had begun to ease.

Moving out of bed is agonising but he walked for the first time on Thursday - practice for the goal he has for the birth of his first child; a baby boy, due on August 23.

"I'm excited, I can't wait to meet him.

"I want to be able to just walk into the room and meet him."

Yorke is the main source of income for the couple and also provided financial support to his aunty, who he lived with.

He will be in hospital for two weeks.

Yorke works at Lynmore Primary School, and began there when he was the head boy at Rotorua Lakes High and tutored kapa haka during free timetable slots.

He was re-employed at the school after a year at Toi-Ohomai Polytechnic as a teacher aide.

The main part of the job is working alongside students who need extra support in the classroom, as well as helping those who are having a bad day.

"He's just fabulous, to have a young man that's a great role model like that in the school. The kids absolutely adore him," principal Lorraine Taylor said.

The easy-going hard worker did everything with a smile, Taylor said.

Tangaroa Yorke is a teacher-aide at Lynmore School in Rotorua. Photo / Supplied

"When he rang me, he was most concerned that his Lynmore School sweatshirt was burnt."

Taylor said a video he posted of him walking for the first time with a walking aid, fully bandaged, was done with a big smile despite the pain.

Taylor set up a Givealittle page for Yorke to help with the transport costs for whānau to visit him, supplies for his baby, and food and other essential items for his whānau while he can't financially support them.

Yorke said he was humbled by the response of the community to the accident, with the page already raising almost $5000 since Thursday.