PALO ALTO — A man was injured Friday after officials said his equipment caught fire while working at an EOJ Inc. mine site.
A Schuylkill EMS employee said the man was flown to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest and was listed in critical condition. Palo Alto Fire Chief Bill Buckingham confirmed that the identity of the injured man was Joe Zaprazny, owner of the mine.
“He was severely injured,” Buckingham said, adding he did not know the extent of Zaprazny’s injuries but he heard the man hurt his back and head.
Buckingham said Zaprazny was conscious but could not walk. He said he jumped off the excavator after “a hydraulic hose blew off (and the fluid) touched the muffler.”
He said Zaprazny did not know the excavator was on fire until he turned around and saw it. He ended up going 15 to 20 feet down an embankment.
A hospital spokesperson confirmed Zaprazny is in critical condition as of 8:30 p.m.
Fire companies and Schuylkill EMS responded to the site on East Bacon Street after Schuylkill County Communications Center received a call at 1:21 p.m. for a vehicle fire.
Buckingham said firefighters remained at the scene until 5:45 p.m. Foam was used to douse the fire, and white smoke was visible at least an hour after the accident.
Colleen Connolly, community relations coordinator for the state Department of Environmental Protection’s Northeast Regional Office, confirmed the accident Friday.
“DEP Pottsville District Mining Office is still on scene of an incident at the EOJ Coal Company site in Palo Alto. From what we have been told, an excavator caught fire and the fire department was called to put out the fire. DEP staff has been there since 2:15 investigating,” she said in an email at 4 p.m.
She said the company has had no violations in the past few years.
“The company does have an active mining permit with us since April 2013. Two more surface mining permits are still under review,” Connolly said.
A call to Port Carbon Fire Chief Mike Welsh, the person in charge, was not returned as of 5:20 p.m. A representative at Goodwill Fire Company No. 1 said Welsh was still at the scene.
Firefighters from Pottsville, Schuylkill Haven, East Norwegian Township, Port Carbon and Mount Carbon were among emergency personnel who responded to the scene.