Vallejo man seriously injured in apparent welding accident

VALLEJO (BCN) - A Vallejo man suffered serious burns to his upper body early Tuesday morning in a fire that started while he was welding his vehicle's gas tank in his garage, a Vallejo Fire Department spokesman said.

The two-alarm fire at 407 Valley Vista Ave. was reported at 12:20 a.m. fire spokesman Mark Libby said.

The man had drained the gas from the tank into plastic containers before welding the tank, Libby said. The garage door was open and neighbors heard the man's wife screaming for him to get out of the garage when it caught fire, Libby said.

The man tried to put out the flames with a fire extinguisher and a hose. He suffered second- and third-degree burns to his arms, upper chest face and head and was taken to a hospital, Libby said.

The fire got into the attic of the attached garage and the home, and firefighters controlled the blaze within a half-hour. The man's wife brought the family's dog out safely and a cat escaped on its own, Libby said.

Firefighters were able to save the contents of the home and remained at the scene for about four hours, he said.

The car the man was working on was destroyed and Libby estimated damage to the home is between $200,000 and $250,000.