By Martha Rose Brown
The Times and Democrat
ORANGEBURG, S.C. — A 60-year-old Orangeburg woman is undergoing treatment for serious burns after her boyfriend allegedly set her on fire.
He’s also in a hospital receiving treatment after his vehicle collided with a fire engine as he was leaving the scene, according to law enforcement incident reports.
The incident occurred on Saturday just after midnight on the 100 block of Truman Circle, in the home where the couple lives.
Emergency responders were called the residence after the boyfriend, 60, allegedly called his girlfriend’s sister, telling her that he’d set his girlfriend on fire, according to an Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office incident report.
Orangeburg Department of Public Safety firefighters were called to the scene at 12:08 a.m.
The fire report states that three fire engines and a ladder truck went to the scene.
When firefighters arrived, they found the girlfriend standing away from the home with two bystanders trying to calm her, the report states.
The girlfriend appeared to have third-degree burns to her face, arms, chest, stomach and back, according to the report.
When firefighters asked her what happened, she allegedly said, “My man poured gasoline on me and set me on fire while I was watching TV on the couch,” the fire report states.
Firefighters smelled gasoline on the girlfriend, her clothes and inside of the home.
The fire was contained in the living room, but there was smoke damage throughout the home.
The Cordova Fire Department helped set up a landing zone for a medical helicopter to land at Henry’s Travel Plaza, located at 1935 Old Edisto Drive.
The girlfriend was flown to a burn center.
The boyfriend allegedly left the scene before emergency responders arrived but was found just moments later after he crashed head-on with one of the fire engines heading to the scene.
Two firefighters were in the engine. The driver complained his ankle hurt, but the other firefighter didn’t report any physical injuries.
Emergency responders found the boyfriend “balled up under the steering column” of his vehicle, the report states.
An ambulance took the boyfriend to MUSC Health-Orangeburg for treatment of multiple injuries sustained during the collision.
Deputies allege the boyfriend admitted to setting his girlfriend on fire, but said he wasn’t trying to kill her.
“I f - - - - - up,” he allegedly told deputies.
He said that he works all day and that his girlfriend doesn’t appreciate him, the report said. He claims she teases and talks negatively to him.
The boyfriend had to be transferred to MUSC in Charleston for further treatment.
Both the boyfriend and girlfriend remain hospitalized.
The incident remains under investigation. No one has been charged yet.
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