Warning issued after beachgoers suffer severe burns from super-heated sand

Nation.Cymru staff

People heading to Wales’ beaches during the latest spell of hot weather are being warned about the risk of serious burns from sand heated by disposable barbecues.

The Welsh Centre for Burns and Plastic Surgery at Morriston Hospital issued the warning after beachgoers suffered injuries that left them unable to walk and facing months of recovery.

It comes as another heatwave is forecast for Wales over the coming days.

Doctors say sand underneath disposable barbecues can reach extremely high temperatures and remain dangerously hot long after the barbecue has been removed or extinguished.

Sam Knight, 27, was unable to walk for a fortnight after stepping on sand where his family had been using a barbecue at Cefn Sidan earlier this year.

He said: “When we’d finished with the barbecue I used tongs to move it to one side and extinguished it, so I thought it was safe.

“But the patch of sand it had been on was still boiling, and after I stepped on it I had to be carried off the beach.

“I couldn’t walk for a couple of weeks so I had to take a fortnight off work.”

Mr Knight, a mechanical engineer, later returned to the beach to carry out an experiment.

He placed one disposable barbecue directly on the sand and another raised 40mm above it. He said the sand beneath the first reached 244C, while the temperature beneath the raised barbecue remained close to the ambient temperature in the conditions tested.

Melanie Holbrook suffered a similar injury after visiting Oxwich Bay on Gower with her husband.

She said: “When I looked, the bottoms of my feet were burnt yellow.

“The heat from the barbecue had gone straight into the sand. I had no idea that could happen.

“I ended up in A&E in Morriston Hospital and then in the Burns’ Centre. The skin on my feet was badly blistered and had to be removed.

“It took weeks for the skin on my feet to heal and it took about four to five months before I could properly walk again and I still get some sensitivity even now.”

Consultant surgeon Jeremy Yarrow said a recent review of International Burn Injury Database figures showed a continuing rise in injuries associated with disposable barbecues.

Super-heated sand

He said: “While many associate barbecues with open flames, a significant proportion of the severe injuries we treat in hospital stem from an invisible trap: super-heated sand beneath the grill.

“Sand absorbs intense heat from disposable barbecues, reaching temperatures upwards of 400°C that persist for hours after the barbecue unit itself has been removed or extinguished.”

The burns centre is urging people never to place disposable barbecues directly on sand and to raise them using stones, bricks or a suitable stand.

Both the barbecue and the sand beneath it should be thoroughly cooled with water after use. Hot barbecues or embers should never be buried because the sand can insulate them and leave a hidden source of intense heat.

Anyone who suffers a burn is advised to cool it under running water for at least 20 minutes, seek medical help and loosely cover the injury with clean cling film.

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