WEST VALLEY CITY — A 6-year-old boy was in critical condition Tuesday after his body was engulfed in flames while he and some friends were playing with gasoline and a lighter.

The boy and one or two friends were playing Monday night in a field near their home at the Riverside Mobile Home Park, 1219 W. 3700 South. Investigators were still trying to determine Tuesday exactly what happened.

West Valley Fire Capt. Jeff Fox said according to what his investigators can so far determine, the boys were either trying to light pieces of paper on fire and used gasoline to speed up the process, or were lighting pools of gasoline collected in a cupcake baking pan.

One of the boys either had gasoline spill on him or the fumes around him ignited, engulfing his body in flames, Fox said.

The others tried to put the fire out, but "the child ran into the house and he was still on fire at that time," said Assistant Fire Chief Kris Romijn.

A couple of adults inside the home put the fire out and took the boy's shirt off. The adults, who had a language barrier with emergency dispatchers, apparently thought they were supposed to be put "cream" on the burned areas, but ended up spreading sour cream on the boy's burns, Romijn said.

"Their understanding was cream would be good for burns," he said.

A medical helicopter took the boy to University Hospital's burn unit. The boy suffered second- and third-degree burns over 30 percent of his body, including his chest, shoulders and arms, Romijn said.

— Pat Reavy and Jacob Hancock