BROOKSVILLE - A 12-year-old Brooksville boy was badly burned Wednesday when a fire he was trying to kindle flashed out of control, authorities said. Samuel Owen Perkins and his older brother were trying to burn scrap lumber and yard trimmings in a barrel behind their home on Croom Road, according to Capt. Alan Arick of the Hernando County Sheriff's Office. After the pair tried using pine straw and dry leaves with no success, Arick said, Samuel tried pouring gasoline into the barrel. That's when the blaze erupted. Samuel was flown to Tampa General Hospital with third-degree burns over 50 percent of his body, officials said. "Burning trash is a pretty common practice in rural areas," Arick said. "But people should remember that fire is always potentially dangerous."
