1 dead after explosion in Lawndale, authorities investigating

LAWNDALE, N.C. — A family is devastated after an explosion killed a man Thursday morning in Lawndale.

Family members told Channel 9 that Dennis Thorton, 61, had been burning debris in his yard along Stick Elliot Road. They said one of the piles had gone out and he tossed fuel from a pail onto the debris and it exploded.

A few family members gathered around the burn pile and prayed with a chaplain.

"It’s the last thing my father-in-law had,” son-in-law Douglass Mullins said, holding the bucket that contained the fuel. "He pretty much was the glue that held this family together."

“Thorton’s daughter heard the explosion, looked outside her window, saw the fire and called 911 and told them her father was on the ground in flames.

"Heard a big old boom actually, and she said she looked out the window and seen it happening," Mullins said.

Family members said Thornton often burned debris, but he was always cautious.

Son-in-law Darren Ivy said he is normally with Thornton when he burns debris, but he was at work this time.

"I wish things would have been a whole lot different," Ivy said.

He believes the 61-year-old man believed he could handle the burning alone and didn't tell anyone what he was going to do.

"Anything that he could do, he would do it by himself," Ivy said.

His family wants others to learn from what happened to Thornton.

"Be very, very careful,” Ivy said. “Don't use gas. Never use gas."

Click PLAY to watch Chopper 9 while investigators are on the scene

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