Officials Determine Cause of Explosion at Brick Marina, Identify Victim

Police Lights (Photo: Jason Rojas/Flickr)

Investigators say an explosion that occurred at Lightning Jack’s Marina on Monday was caused when a heat gun interacted with gasoline fumes.

The 2:40 p.m. explosion injured Kevin McDermitt, 39, of Toms River. Al Della Fave, spokesman for the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, said McDermitt, who was airlifted to the St. Barnabas burn center in Livingston, will survive.

McDermitt told investigators he was working on a vessel that was dry-docked in a garage at the marina. Detective Mitchell Remig found that McDermitt was using a heat gun to fix a transducer under the deck of the vessel in the stern area. As he went to turn on an electric heat gun, he detected the odor of gasoline and suddenly an explosion occurred, Della Fave said.

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It was noted in the report, Della Fave said, that not all of the hatches were open on the vessel when the work was being done. The vapors were determined to have originated from under the deck in the stern area. The cause of the accidental vapor explosion was from the use of the electric heat gun.