ADEL — A Cook County deputy was seriously burned at a school function and had to be life-flighted to an Augusta burn unit Friday, according to the Cook County Sheriff’s Office.

Cpl. Chad McDaniel of the CCSO was at Cook Elementary School, taking part in a graduation ceremony for kids in the sheriff’s office’s KICKS program, said Capt. Brent Exum of sheriff’s office. The incident occurred around 9 a.m.

He said KICKS teaches children about drug abuse, firearms safety, ATV safety and a wide range of other topics.

McDaniel, a school resource officer at Cook Middle School, was lighting a gas grill for hot dogs when something went wrong, Exum said.

“He was burned on the face, neck and arms,” he said.

McDaniel was rushed by patrol car to the hospital in Tifton — Cook County no longer has its own emergency room — and from there he was taken by helicopter to a burn unit in Augusta, the captain said.

Exum said McDaniel was “alert and talking” and his first and second-degree burns, though painful, were not life-threatening.

Terry Richards is senior reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times.