2 Brothers Suffer Serious Burns in Auto Paint Shop Blast in La Habra : * Explosion: The incident occurred when they accidentally ignited fumes inside a booth with a cleaning buffer.

Two brothers were in critical condition late Saturday after suffering second- and third-degree burns when they accidentally ignited paint fumes with a cleaning buffer, triggering an explosion inside an auto paint shop.

Martin Vasquez, 20, and his 18-year-old brother, Alfredo, both of La Habra, suffered burns over at least 80% of their bodies, fire officials said.

The brothers had been cleaning with the buffer inside the spray-painting booth at 6:19 a.m. at Morales Body Shop, 2091 E. Lambert Road, said La Habra Fire Department Battalion Chief Larry Powell. The buffer apparently sparked, igniting fumes inside the booth, Powell said.

The pair were then engulfed in flames that flared outside the booth and spread through other parts of the shop. The flames immediately triggered the auto shop’s sprinkler system, which doused the fire and prevented major damage to the building, Powell said.

The brothers were flown by helicopter to UCI Medical Center’s burn unit, where they remained Saturday night, UCI hospital spokeswoman Fran Tardiff said.

Tardiff said Alfredo Vasquez suffered mostly second- and third-degree burns over 80% of his body, while his elder brother was suffered burns over 90% of his body.

La Habra Police Sgt. Bob Wyse said officers had to temporarily close a few streets near the shop so that the helicopter could land at Sonora High School, located a block away from the body shop.

Wyse said, however, that the early morning street closings did not present a traffic problem for authorities.

“We were fortunate that there was a ‘landing pad’ close by,” Wyse said. “That helped to speed things up.”

Fire officials say they do not know how many people were in the shop at the time of the explosion.

“We were very fortunate that there was a sprinkler system,” Powell said. “We could have lost the entire building and perhaps more.”

Eighteen firefighters from five fire companies took a half-hour to control the blaze. Powell said the building had minimum charring, but there is no estimate yet on damage costs.

Staff writer Davan Maharaj contributed to this report.