Beach Rocks Ignite Woman's Shorts, Cause Severe Burns

In a mysterious turn of events, a California woman's shorts ignited after she put a few beach rocks in her pocket.

Lyn Hiner, 43, is currently being treated in hospital for second and third degree burns. We were talking about who was going to pick up the babysitter, Hiner told Good Morning America. And all of a sudden something hot on my leg just sort of started to bother me so I started thinking it was a bug bite, so I started slapping it and the next thing I know my pants were on fire.

Hiner picked up the rocks during a family trip to a southern California beach and put them in her pocket thinking they were harmless.
Although the rocks are undergoing scientific investigation, it is thought that they combusted due to friction caused in her pocket.

Hiner and her husband Rob Hiner, tried to pat down the fire before hosing it down. I've never seen anything like this, her doctor, Dr. Andrea Dunkelman, told Good Morning America. She has third-degree burns, which means that it's been burned all the way through her skin to her underlying tissue, her fat. We treated her by placing skin grafts from her thigh to that area.

Her husband also suffered from severe burns to his hands and was treated at the Grossmann Burn Center.

An orange substance was found on the rocks, which scientists say is man-made, but there is no evidence that the substance came from the military, San Diego State University geologist Pat Abbott told Good morning America.

Environment officials have visited the beach since the incident, but have not found any public health and safety issue, ABC News reported.