'Not worth it': Victorian tradie's warning after severe burns left him in a coma

A Victorian tradie who suffered severe burns to 17 per cent of his body and spent 10 days in a coma has shared his story to warn others ahead the long weekend.

Ryan Birse, 32, was burnt in his backyard and was left with permanent scars after a night of drinks around a fire pit took a turn for the worse when he poured petrol on the flames. 

"Unfortunately, it all flashed back at me and I lit up," Birse told 9News Melbourne.

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"It's something that you never think that's gonna happen to you."

Dr Stephen Goldie from the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne said medical experts have been left troubled by the number of men who are injured by petrol-related burns.

"We noticed a pattern in our clinical practice that, as the public holiday weekends came around," Goldie said.

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"We had a spike in the number of petrol burns coming in."

Burns specialists at the Alfred said the majority of incidents occur in social settings and most are preventable.

"In over 50 per cent of these injuries, the patients have been using drugs or alcohol and were at least partially intoxicated at the time of their injury," Goldie said.

The data shows people are 20 per cent more likely to suffer petrol burns on a public holiday and the majority are men in their 20s and 30s.

Ahead of the long weekend, the message from experts is take care around fires and never mix accelerants with flames.

"It's just not worth it, it's not worth the risk, it's totally unnecessary," Birse said.