August 29, 2008

ANDERSON, S.C. (AP) -- Two men are being treated for first- and second-degree burns after Anderson police say a lit cigarette caused the car where they were huffing aerosol chemicals to explode.

The Greenville News reports that Anderson police say a 34-year-old Georgia man and a 19-year-old Conastee man were in a car huffing computer keyboard cleaner near the Anderson Sports and Entertainment Complex about 8:35 p.m. Thursday.

Police say the older man tried to light a cigarette when the chemicals in the air exploded and blew out windows of the car.

A public safety officer who may have inhaled fumes from the explosion was also taken to a hospital as a precaution.

Earlier, police had said a mobile methamphetamine lab could be to blame for the explosion.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)