Susquehanna Hose Company volunteers responded Friday to an explosion at the Maryland National Guard Readiness Center at 301 Old Bay Lane in Havre de Grace, where an acetylene tank explodied, injuring a worker. (Courtesy of Susquehanna Hose Company / Baltimore Sun)
By David Anderson The Aegis
AUGUST 18, 2015
HAVRE DE GRACE, MD
Maryland National Guard investigating employee's injuries as result of fuel tank explosion
A Maryland National Guard employee at the Havre de Grace Readiness Center was injured Friday afternoon after the acetylene tank he was working on exploded, according to the Susquehanna Hose Company fire chief.
Fire Chief Scott Hurst said Monday that the "adult male patient" was drilling holes to scrap empty acetylene tanks, which are used by welders.
One tank still had fuel in it, and it exploded as the man was drilling it, Hurst said.
First responders were alerted around 1:30 p.m. The tank was still burning when Susquehanna Hose firefighters arrived at the readiness center in the 300 block of Old Bay Lane, Hurst said.
Hurst said the man suffered severe burns. Aberdeen Fire Department EMS workers responded, too, and they took the victim in an ambulance to a helicopter landing site at the National Guard facility.
The victim was then flown by Maryland State Police Medevac to the Johns Hopkins Bayview Burn Center in Baltimore, Hurst said.
Col. Charles Kohler, a spokesperson for the National Guard, said the organization's safety office is conducting an investigation.
Kohler could not say Monday if the injured man was a civilian or member of the military.