Machinery sparks ignited liquids in Baldwin garage

The fiery explosion in a Baldwin garage that critically injured the homeowner Sunday was caused by a potent mix of machinery sparks and flammable liquids, a fire official said Monday.

"It is an accidental fire," said Vincent McManus, division supervisor of the Nassau County fire marshal's office.

McManus gave this account: Around noon Sunday, Steven Haber, 52, of Central Avenue, was working with his son on fixing a vehicle in their driveway, and the two were inside the detached garage. Haber was using a handheld grinding tool to work on a metal car part.

"What we believe happened was sparks from the grinder ignited a fire on the work bench, where [flammable] materials were, and became involved in a fire," McManus said.

Haber's attempts to extinguish the fire caused the flames to grow, and his clothes ignited. His son led him outside the garage while the fire escalated "because of the normal things stored in the garage" that were flammable.

A 3-foot-tall acetylene tank used for a metal-cutting torch exploded and shot 20 feet down the driveway just as the Baldwin Fire Department responded to the scene.

Haber was taken to Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow for treatment of burns. Haber's son and wife were treated for minor injuries at NUMC and released.

Haber's younger son, who was not injured, said his father was still being treated at NUMC.

"It was a freak accident," said Thomas Haber, 21. "It was unpreventable." He said his brother was "OK."

The garage was destroyed, and a neighbor's detached garage had some damage, McManus said.

"I don't believe they were doing anything that would have required any permits," he said, calling the fire "a home project gone awry."

He advised people working on home projects to "keep your garage neat and orderly."

"Keep your flammable materials in a storage cabinet designed to store flammable liquids," McManus said.