Flash Fire in Hangar Burns Mechanic
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A flash fire at a Fox Airfield hangar in Lancaster on Monday injured a mechanic who barely escaped fast-moving flames that incinerated the plane he was working on, fire officials said.
Andrew Reo, 36, of Lancaster was treated at Antelope Valley Hospital Medical Center for first- and second-degree burns to his hands and released Monday afternoon.
The fire at the county-operated facility began shortly before 9:30 a.m. and caused $150,000 in damage, Capt. Mike Waters of the Los Angeles County Fire Department said.
The fire in the Cessna 206 single-engine plane broke out when a short circuit in the wiring of an electric motor that operated the wing flaps caused a spark that ignited gasoline fumes, officials said.
Reo, who was in the plane’s cockpit doing maintenance on the wing flaps, ran from the hangar as flames engulfed the plane.
The fire damaged three other planes in adjacent hangars before it was extinguished by airport and county fire crews.
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