Baby falls through heat duct

NASHUA – A 10-month-old child was injured Tuesday after falling eight feet through a first-floor heating grate into the basement of his home.

The child was transported by ambulance to the Southern New Hampshire Medical Center as a precautionary measure to check for back and neck injuries, Nashua Fire Rescue Deputy Chief Dan Cronin said.

Fire crews responded to a call from the child’s mother at 7:37 p.m. The call was first dispatched as a rescue, Cronin said, because the information they had suggested the child was trapped in the heating duct.

When crews arrived at the 28 Perham St. residence, they discovered the heating system was no longer in use and the duct work had been removed. The child had fallen through the hole where the duct work would have been to the dirt floor of the basement.

Cronin said the child was lying on the floor crying when they arrived.

“He was very shaken up, scared and confused,” Cronin said.

The heating grate was in the child’s bedroom when fire crews responded, but was not covering the duct, Cronin said. He was not sure whether the child removed the grate or it had been previously displaced, but said the grate was not secure prior to the fall.