Officials: Man who suffered burns in Conover explosion dies

CONOVER, N.C. — Officials at a North Carolina burn center told Channel 9 that Bill Bumgarner, the man who was flown to the facility after suffering severe burns in an explosion near Conover early this week, has died.

Bumgarner and his son were injured in a Monday afternoon garage fire in Conover, officials said.

The fire was near C&B Farm Road and the garage was used by a local grading business.

Bumgarner was flown by air ambulance to Wake Forest Medical Center after sustaining burns to 80 percent of his body. His son, Darryl Bumgarner, was taken to the local hospital with injuries.

The fire was ruled an accident, investigators said. They believe the fire started after an explosion while the father and son were working on an old fuel tank in a building along Highway 16.

Frantic 911 calls were made moments after the explosion.

"Intersection C&B Farm Road and 16. (We have a) fire now," one caller said.

"What's on fire sir?" the dispatcher asked.

"A gas tank. It exploded," the caller said.

"Is anybody hurt?" the dispatcher said.

"You need to hurry," the caller said.

Bill and Darryl Bumgarner were trying to cut open a fuel storage tank when vapors inside ignited and exploded, investigators said.

Billy Bumgarner got the call Monday that his father Bill and brother Darryl were working inside.

"I'm real upset about because I don't know," Billy Bumgarner said.

He was at work in South Carolina when the fire started.

"I had people calling and asking me what was going on, that the place was burninh down and said, ‘I don't know,’" Bumgarner said.

He said he heard his dad and brother were cutting a barrel and it exploded.

"It just kind of reminded me of an earthquake,” neighbor Nisha Britt said. “It was just the boom and that was it."

The garage behind the business was the only building damaged.

"Knowing it was a business, we knew we had flammable liquids possibly that could, we had a couple more explosions, small explosions," said Chris Hicks, Conover Fire Department fire investigator.

Officials said Highway 16 was shut down and reopened around 5:30 p.m. Monday as hotspots and preliminary investigation of the accident went underway.

Two firefighters suffered from heat exhaustion. One was taken to the hospital as a precaution.

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