BARTOW COUNTY, Ga. — A mobile home fire that left a 3-year-old dead over the weekend in Bartow County was caused by using the wrong fuel in a kerosene heater, according to officials.
The fire happened on Saturday just before noon in the area of Clark Circle and Glade Road. The county coroner identified the 3-year-old victim as Philip Antonio Gordon Lee Jenkins.
Bartow County Fire Chief Dwayne Jamison said that an off-duty firefighter "attempted to rescue the child but was unsuccessful."
By the time crews arrived, the mobile home was "fully involved" the chief said.
Tuesday morning, Jamison said the Bartow County fire marshal had "determined that the cause of the fire was improper fuel being used in a kerosene heater."
"Apparently gasoline was accidentally used as fuel instead of kerosene, causing the fire," the chief said.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission warns to "never use gasoline or any other fuel" in a kerosene heater.
"Gasoline is not the same as kerosene," the CPSC notes. "Even small amounts of gasoline or other volatile fuels or solvents mixed with kerosene can substantially increase the risk of a fire or an explosion."