Changes in many aspects of burn care, in particular intensive
care management, have led to increased survival for patients
with major burns. As a result burns related deaths have halved
over the past 40 years [1]. Infection, however, remains a
leading cause of death among this group of patients. Much is
known about burns wound infections following most forms of
thermal injury [1]. Conversely, relatively little is known about
the diagnosis and management of burns infections, following
exposure of wounds to contaminated water [2,3]. We report
three such cases, with major burns wounds exposed to various
water sources used to extinguish flames, which were subsequently
complicated by severe invasive and necrotizing deep
wound infections. All three patients were managed at The
Royal Perth Hospital (RPH) Burns Unit between the February
2005 and March 2007.