Welding student badly burned after clothes catch fire

A welding student at Vancouver Island University has suffered extensive burns to his body in an accident that happened while he was working on a project in class at the Nanaimo campus.

Jack Hollas, 17, is being treated at Royal Jubilee Hospital for second- and third-degree burns to 25 per cent of his body.

He enrolled in the university’s 10-month Welder Foundation Program in September.

“He was working with the welding equipment as part of his class and a piece of clothing lit on fire,” Carrie Chassels, the university’s associate vicepresident of student affairs, told CHEK News.

“We had medical emergency responders on site within minutes of our 911 call.”

Chassels said she was not aware of any other similar incidents in the welding program.

“Safety is really important and we want to make sure that our safety protocols are as robust as possible,” Chassels said.

Hollas’s father said he was told that his son panicked, ran and was quickly engulfed in flames. He was sprayed with water and the fire was extinguished in about 10 seconds.

Funds are being raised through GoFundMe.com to help the family with expenses as they travel between Nanaimo and Victoria during Hollas’s recovery.

According to a message on the GoFundMe site, Hollas is one of the top students in his class and aspires to be a future member of Ironworkers Local 97. Hollas is attached to a ventilator and will have to undergo a series of surgeries, the message said.