HUNTINGTON BEACH – The father of a boy who fell in a beach fire pit and suffered third-degree burns on parts of his body is suing the city.

Jason Richardson filed a lawsuit in Orange County Superior Court on Feb. 15, alleging the city is responsible for his son’s injuries in the April 17, 2011, incident because the fire pit was broken and hazardous.

City officials said they did not want to comment on the lawsuit.

The lawsuit says it is an unlimited case, which means Richardson wants at least $25,000. According to a claim filed with Huntington Beach in August, Richardson asked for $500,000 to cover his son’s medical bills and treatment.

Seth Richardson, who was 6 at the time of the incident, was flying a kite near his father at Huntington City Beach when he fell backwards into the fire pit, which still had a smoldering fire in it, the claim says.

Jason Richardson, of Hemet, said the pit was near Tower 11 and was the first in the row of pits lining the city beach. Photos taken by police officers who responded to the scene show that one side of the concrete pit had deteriorated down to sand level.

Seth suffered second and third-degree burns on his right arm and the right side of his chest. He was treated for weeks at the surgical intensive care unit at UCI’s Regional Burn Center in Orange.

City officials previously said the beach’s 167 fire pits are cleaned out nightly and checked, but there are not crews to monitor the pits during the day because there is no staff available for that type of work.

Huntington Beach in February 2010 took out 84 of its 167 fire pits to cut about $24,000 from the city’s budget. City officials in March 2010 voted to put back the missing fire rings.

Richardson had said in a previous interview with the Register that the accident wouldn’t have happened if the pit had been in better shape. He also alleges there are no signs telling beachgoers how to properly extinguish their fire, which leads to people not taking proper safety precautions.

“I don’t want the fire pits to go away … but they need to do something about it,” he said.

Richardson’s case prompted Newport Beach city officials to look at safety issues regarding the fire pits. At a meeting on Tuesday night, the council could vote on whether to remove them from city beaches. Other concerns that brought this issue to the table were toxic fumes and smoke in the air.

If approved, 27 would be taken out from Big Corona and 33 would be removed from the Balboa Pier.

Reporter Amy Senk contributed to this report.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7953 or jfletcher@ocregister.com

“Like” Huntington Beach Wave on Facebook to see more news, photos and conversation