"Horrible....large explosion":Man airlifted to hospital after explosion at Coeymans Marina
According to the Mayor, there was a reported explosion and that all companies are on scene. (Albany County Sheriff)
COEYMANS, NY (WRGB) — UPDATE: The man who was severely burned in Thursday’s explosion at the Coeyman's Marina has been identified.
According to the Coeyman's Fire Department the victim of Thursday's explosion is 56-year-old Eric Allen.
According to a Facebook post from a man who is believed to be Allen's father says, Allen was brought to the University of Vermont's Medical Center, and later airlifted to Mass General Hospital in Boston Thursday night.
Allen is expected to undergo reconstructive surgery, it is not clear how long that recovery process will take.
A GoFundMe page was created to support Allen and his family, as of Friday evening, the page had raised over $39,000.
An explosion and fire at the Coeymans Marina seriously injured one person, and destroyed the repair shop.
The Coeymans Town Supervisor George McHugh says it happened in the service shop for the marina - where they store and repair boats.
It happened Thursday morning shortly before 11:00am. Thick black smoke could be seen for miles along the river.
McHugh says one employee was burned in the blast. He says he has second and third degree burns on about 18-20% of his body.
McHugh says no one else was injured. He’s not sure how many other people were in the building, but he knows one employee jumped into action when the fire started.
"I know there was at least one (employee), because that person actually put the fire out. The employee that was burning they put it out and got him to safety." McHugh said. "He probably saved his life to be honest with you. And hats off to him. And hats off to our first responders in Coeymans because they came down here."
Neighbors say they heard a loud boom and felt their houses shake. Then they saw the smoke.
"We heard a loud explosion that rocked our house a little bit, and we thought maybe it was the Port, because every once in a while we get a boom from there. So we didn’t think a lot of it, until I got up to get more coffee and our window overlooks the river, and there was black billowing smoke like we’ve never seen before." Linda Vitollo said.
"Both of us are nurses, so immediately we were worried and hoped no one got hurt." Linda's husband Joe Vitollo said.
Linda says she drove down to the scene and saw the medical helicopter. She said the smoke smelled horrible.
Several community members came down to the marina to see the scene. Many were concerned about their boats too, but we're unable to get close.
We know some were badly damaged.
The cause of the explosion is still under investigation.
