Mother: Girl burned after stepping on covered manhole in Detroit

A five-year-old girl from Wixom was walking with her family after Sunday's Tigers' game when she stepped on a covered manhole on St. Antoine and we're told was instantly burned.

"I was looking at the manhole," said Kaitlyn Bowden.  "Then I stepped on it by mistake, and then I screamed."

"As soon as she stepped on the manhole, she was like screaming, like excruciating pain, yelling really loud, screaming to the top of her lungs and just instantly crying.  I grabbed her and I looked, and I saw how red her foot was," said her mother Kasandra Bowden.

The family took pictures as the child's foot began to blister.  At Providence Hospital, doctors said the photos show second-degree burns.

"I don't know what degree it was, but it had to be really, really hot to burn her that easily, so I'm just shocked that no one has said anything or done anything about that," the girl's mother remarked.

We found the manhole and tried to take a temperature reading, but the steam was way too hot for a standard thermometer.  We could definitely feel the intense heat that allegedly caused the burns.

The family called Fox 2 after they tried to reach several city departments.

We called the mayor's office.  A spokesperson told us she'll have to get in touch with the proper department and said the city has no control over the steam coming out of the manholes.

The spokesperson called back to say the city is in the process of talking with the correct agency, but for now the manhole is still hot enough to cause serious burns, and the family hopes something is done before someone else gets hurt.