A terrible accident for a Toronto family, and all the anxious mother could do was watch in horror. "I was about 3 feet from her when it happened," confirms Noreen Popelas.

What happened was a stumble that severely injured her daughter. "She lost her balance and fell towards the fireplace, and put out her hands to break her fall." That's when her five-year-old burned her hands on the glass of a gas fireplace. "The pain was excruciating for her," says Popelas, who asked that her daughter not be named.

Jennifer Fenton, Occupational Therapist at Sick Kids, confirmed that even a brief touch is dangerous.  "It only takes a matter of seconds with contact from the hands on the glass to sustain deep burns."

That's because the temperature of that glass can reach 600 degrees Fahrenheit  (315 degrees Celsius).

There's hope, though - Popelas says here daughter is "coming through it very well." She still can't believe it happened. "I did everything right," she says, including not turning on the fireplace until her daughter turned five.

Sick Kids hospital recommends that parents cover the glass with a screen.

For more tips on preventing burns, click here for Laura DiBattista's blog.