Girl, 2, severely burned by hot coals left at Barnstable beach

A 2-year-old girl badly burned her feet walking on hot coals at a Cape Cod beach yesterday and cops want to know who carelessly dumped out a stillburning hibachi on a busy Fourth of July weekend, Barnstable police said.

Barnstable police Sgt. Thomas Twomey called the reckless act a case of “stupidity” with tragic results.

“Whoever dumped the charcoals, went into the beach area and dumped the charcoals,” Twomey said, adding the little girl later unknowingly walked into the still-hot coals.

“That beach this weekend is totally chaos,” Twomey said, adding the town’s beaches “are full. You have to wait in line to get into the beaches.”

The child was airlifted to the Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence after stepping on the hot coals while walking on Veterans Beach about 2:15 p.m. yesterday in Hyannis, said Hyannis Fire Department Capt. Mark Storie.

The girl had severe burns on “75 percent” of her feet, Storie said.

Twomey said there is a picnic area with charcoal grills available for the public to use near the beach where the girl had stepped on the hot charcoal, and police believe that is where the coals came form.

Cops had not figured out who dumped the hot coals as of yesterday afternoon, Twomey said, noting the investigation is ongoing.

“We’re trying to find out. At this point, we just don’t have any idea where it came or how it got there,” Twomey said.