MALCOLM — Two people suffered critical burn injuries in an apparent gas vapor explosion on Malcolm’s public school campus Monday morning, the town’s fire chief said.
The men, subcontractors involved in a school expansion project, were working with a gasoline-powered generator in a semitrailer next to the school at 9:15 a.m. when gas vapor triggered an explosion, Malcolm Fire and Rescue Chief Jim Densberger said.
One man suffered second- and third-degree burns and the other had second-degree burns, Densberger said.
Ambulance crews from Malcolm and Raymond took the men to CHI St. Elizabeth in Lincoln, he said.
The men were doing work for Liquid Foam Insulation Inc. of Omaha. Company officials didn't immediately return a call Monday seeking comment.
Lincoln Fire and Rescue and the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office also responded to the scene outside Westfall Elementary School, on the northwest edge of Malcolm, about 13 miles northwest of Lincoln.
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Sgt. Tommy Trotter of the sheriff's office said one of the injured men was inside the trailer and the other on the trailer's tailgate when the explosion occurred, causing a fireball to shoot at them.
Trotter said officials suspect that gas vapor may have been building up for several hours before something sparked the explosion.
Investigating agencies include the State Fire Marshal’s Office and Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
None of the school's buildings were damaged.
School is not in session, and children in a day care that contracts with the school district were on the other side of the building at the time of the explosion, said Malcolm Public Schools Superintendent Ryan Terwilliger.
The school is adding new classrooms and a middle school commons area between the middle and high school and renovating parts of the buildings, he said.