A worker was burned using a torch at scrap yard Monday in Washington Township, a Westmoreland County Public Safety supervisor said.
The incident occurred around noon at B&M Auto Recycling scrap yard along Silvis Road, the 911 supervisor said.
Fire units were called to the scene to extinguish some vehicles that caught fire.
A landing zone was set up at the Murrysville Community Park to fly the victim to an area hospital.
Washington Township police could not be reached for comment.
“We heard an incredibly loud boom, followed by our house shaking,” said Kevin Heasley, Silvis Road resident living near the scrap yard.
When they went to investigate the sound of an explosion, “a very thick plume of smoke was visible, and there was the sound of a young man screaming for help. It appeared that there was a vehicle on fire.”
The ambulance was on the scene within minutes and they transported the victim very quickly, Heasley said.
A spokesperson for the Occupational Safety & Health Administration, which investigates workplace accidents, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Additional details were not immediately available.
