A six-year-old girl suffered serious burns to her foot after stepping onto a hidden fire at a Kirkcaldy beach.
Paulina Baczyk and her family were at Ravenscraig Beach on Saturday when she heard her daughter Nadia “scream” in pain.
The family from Glenrothes had been sitting on a picnic rug around 30cm from a fire for around half an hour.
However, it was not visible because it had been covered with sand and left to burn.
According to Paulina, the burnt wood was only on show when Nadia stood barefoot on the blaze.
Paulina told The Courier: “Everyone was in shock because we had been sitting there for a half an hour and there was no sign of a fire.
“There was no burnt wood, no warmth, and we couldn’t smell fire.
“I quickly covered her in water and we went to the hospital.
“It all happened so fast.
“She had a procedure and we had to take her to the kids hospital in Edinburgh.”
Kirkcaldy beach fire left girl struggling to walk
Nadia spent a night at the Royal Hospital for Children & Young People and was put under a local anaesthetic to remove dead skin from her foot.
Paulina has been told it will take at least two weeks for Nadia to recover from her burns.
The mum wants to raise awareness of the dangers posed by unextinguished fires.
She added: “I don’t know how long it is going to take to heal.
“I’ve had to carry her around because she can’t really walk.
“It was only one foot, luckily, and it could have been worse.
“She doesn’t want to go anywhere near the beach right now, but hopefully that will pass.
“There was plenty of water nearby and putting a ring of stones around a firepit would have meant we could see it.”
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