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A 24-year-old Roane County man was critically burned and injured Tuesday afternoon following an explosion at Speed on US 119.
He was life-flighted to Cabell-Huntington Hospital, where he is listed in critical condition.
The WV Fire Marshal's office said he was using a blow torch to cut apart a large storage tank for scrap metal, when crude oil inside ignited.
Speed resident Harlan Drake told WCHS-TV it was "Just a loud boom and and I looked up and saw the smoke that was going way up high in the air... The man's skin was falling off him."
Officials at the scene said it didn't take much of a spark from the victim's blow torch and the heat of the day to catch the oil on fire, with flames shooting up to 40 feet into the air.
Drake said the tanks were only recently moved to the property.
WCHS-TV reported a 15-year-old was watching as the fire broke out and he suffered minor burns on both arms.
Roane EMS, the Spencer-Roane VFD and other responders went to the scene.
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