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By John Estus
Staff Writer There's no skin left on Harli White's back. Gruesome burns stretch from her neck to her ankles.
Charlie White looks at the half of his 12-year-old daughter's body charred by flames from a race car fire Saturday and sees a stark wake-up call for racing communities everywhere.
"The reason why Harli got burnt so bad is because the facilities there at the track didn't have the proper safety equipment on their part to get her out of the car,” Charlie White said. "The state of Oklahoma should be required to have some type of safety procedure in order.”
The White family is calling for more safety regulation of private racetracks similar to the one where Harli was burned.
The owners of I-44 Speedway, where the fire occurred, haven't responded to requests this week to discuss Saturday's fire. The southwest Oklahoma City racetrack regularly hosts Kid Sprint races offering children ages 6 to 12 a chance to race on a dirt track.
The sprint cars they drive can reach speeds of 40 mph. Saturday's race was Harli's first.
Numerous racers, government officials and lawmakers said they aren't aware of any licensing or safety procedures that governments require of racetracks.
Most safety requirements at racetracks are imposed by insurance companies or the track owners themselves, said Tommie Estes, national coordinator for the American Sprint Car Series.
The Oklahoma City Police Department responded to Saturday's incident, but isn't conducting a criminal investigation. Master Sgt. Gary Knight said an investigation would only be conducted if a racer died.
Harli is expected to survive and is recovering from surgery at a Texas burn hospital for children.
"She's a fighter. She's strong,” Charlie White said. "She's a very talented girl, and she's very tolerant to pain. She's just a remarkable young lady.”
‘Best of the best' The girl's father said he took every precaution possible before sending his youngest daughter off to the races.
"We've been around racing just as long as anybody has and we had all the proper safety equipment. The best of the best safety equipment,” he said. "We had the best car in Oklahoma.”
Harli's suit, gloves and shoes were fire protective. She wore a special helmet, but it had been taken off by the time she was pulled from the fire. Still, Charlie White thinks more could have been done to spare his daughter from the serious burns she suffered.
"Nobody at the track had a fire protective suit. None of the safety crew had any fire protective gloves. None of the safety crew had any fire blankets. The safety crew had a hose, but it was rotted and it wasn't even hooked up.”
The only man with a fire protective suit on was racer Donnie Ray Crawford, who ran to the blaze from a pit area outside the track and pulled Harli from the car while she was still on fire.
"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands
in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he
stands at times of challenge and controversy."
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Erich Petersen
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