CHEROKEE — UAB Hospital officials said today that Cherokee teenager Kimberly Pounders remains critical after being burned in a house fire Sunday morning.

Jennifer Ashley, a spokeswoman for UAB Hospital, said Pounders is being treated in the facilities’ burn center.

The 19-year-old Pounders, who suffers from autism, was critically injured when she was trapped inside a fire at her residence early Sunday, officials said.

State Fire Marshal Ed Paulk said Pounders, 86 Moody Lane, Cherokee, suffered severe burns and was flown to UAB Hospital’s burn center.

Family friends said Pounders has burns to 40-50 percent of her body and that her lungs were severely burned.

Firefighters said Pounders was asleep in her bedroom, while her parents and some friends were outside the manufactured home talking.

Emergency personnel at the scene said the fire was between the door and the girl’s bedroom.

Officials said the girl’s father, Freeman Pounders, used an ax to knock a hole in the side of the trailer and managed to rescue her.

The cause of the fire has not been determined.