55 Gallon Drum Explodes Injuring Upstate New York Worker

A 42-year-old upstate New York man is hospitalized after the 55-gallon drum he was cutting up exploded and shot into the air, hitting him on the head.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office says Ricky Poore was using a cutting torch to remove the end of the drum Monday morning at Shue Bros. Excavating in his hometown of Port Leyden, on the southwestern edge of the Adirondack Park 55 miles northeast of Syracuse.

Authorities say heat and flames pierced the drum, causing it to explode and shoot upward, striking Poore before hitting the 15- to 20-foot-high ceiling of the garage he was working in.

Poore was listed in serious condition at a Syracuse hospital.