Explosion burns man at Brick Township marina

An explosion at a Brick Township marina  burned a Toms River man as he worked on a boat.

The Ocean County Prosecutor's Office says Kevin McDermitt,39, was working with an electric heat gun at Lightning Jack's on Route 70 under the deck in the stern of a dry docked vessel smelled gasoline and the an explosion occurred.

McDermitt has burns to his head, arms and hands as police and rescue crews arrived and was taken via medical helicopter  to Saint Barnabas Burn Center in Livingston. The Prosecutor's Office says McDermitt's burns are not life threatening and he should recover. The former Foodtown supermarket was used as a landing site for the MONOC helicopter.

The fire does not appear suspicious, police said. Arson investigators from the Prosecutor's Office say not all of the hatches were open on the vessel when the work was being done. The vapors were determined to originate from the area where McDermitt was working.The cause of the accidental vapor explosion was from the use of the electric heat gun.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was also notified, police said.