Two in hospital after BOP blast

Photo / Bay of Plenty Times

A man is in Tauranga Hospital with burns after he was engulfed by a wall of flame after opening the door to a wood chip container in Mt Maunganui today.

Wood chips and sawdust in the container exploded, said witnesses.

Firefighters called to the Trayco Manufacturing plant in the seaside town, and used foam to extinguish a fire in the container.

Ambulance officers treated the burned man and another man whose injuries were not as severe. Both were taken to Tauranga Hospital.

Witnesses said the more badly injured man had opened the container door.

"A ball of flames came out and he just ran," a witness told sunlive.co.nz news website.

The container collects sawdust from Trayco's timber manufacturing process.

- NZPA