Fresno man badly burned in explosion at a church

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- An explosion at a church in northeast Fresno sent one person to the hospital with burns on his body.

Firefighters were called out to Bethel Christian Center on First Street near Gettysburg Avenue around 8 a.m. on Thursday. Officials say volunteers were helping to reseal the parking lot and fill up cracks in the asphalt. They decided to heat the material in the drum with a propane torch to speed up the process -- that's when it blew up, catching a car on fire.

One volunteer suffered second and third degree burns on his hands, face and arms. He was taken to the hospital.

"It's a significant accident. It's fortunate that he only sustained the injuries that he did and we didn't lose a life here. It could have been pretty catastrophic. Considering we had three other persons that could have been injured as well," said Pete Martinez, Fresno Fire Captain.

Firefighters were able to put out the fire. No one else was hurt.