Father found burned baby in fire

ATMORE, Ala. (WALA) - The father of an 8-month-old girl who was badly burned in a backyard fire Saturday spoke to FOX10 News.

Oscar Martinez said the girl’s mother, 26-year-old Amanda Pugh, dropped the baby into the flames after she had been drinking and passed out.

“I looked at it, and I started crying,” said Martinez. “I started crying when I saw her legs.”

His daughter, Zaida Martinez, was ultimately taken to USA Children’s and Women’s Hosptial with severe burns on both of her legs.

Martinez told FOX10 he had never seen anything like it.

“Her skin was coming up, and her left leg was black,” he described. “It was really bad. When I saw her, I got scared and didn't know what to do.”

The father of five said the family had been roasting marshmallows in the backyard Friday night into Saturday morning. He said he went to the store and when he returned, he found his baby girl screaming on the ground with both legs in the fire.

Martinez said he panicked and placed the child in a bathtub while a neighbor called authorities.

He said once the baby was calm he ran back outside to check on Pugh, and found her still passed out near the fire.

“She (Pugh) was laying down right there,” said Martinez. “Her head was already in the fire, already burned up. So I pulled her out of the fire, woke her up and she walked inside the house.”

Martinez said she didn’t appear to be phased by the panic or understand what was going on.

Atmore police arrested Pugh after witnesses confirmed that she had been drinking with the baby in her arms and passed out near the fire.

Martinez said he believes Pugh had also been taking pills.

“She needs to straighten out,” he said. “Leave the stuff she's doing or whatever she was taking that day.”

The child has since been released from USA Children’s and Women’s Hospital.

Pugh was still in the Escambia County, Alabama jail as of 5 p.m. Nov. 29.

She is charged with first-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child.