Man burned in Far North gas bottle accident

The gas bottle accident which left a man with serious burns occurred at Motukaka/Paradise Bay. Photo / Danielle Collings

A Far North man who suffered burns to both arms while changing gas bottles near Taupo Bay has been flown to Middlemore Hospital.

Mangonui fire chief Ant Pedersen said the man was changing the bottle on a cooker at Motukaka Bay, also known as Paradise Bay, on Sunday evening when the accident, initially reported as a bottle explosion, occurred.

Gas in the line from the bottle to the cooker had been ignited by a pilot light on a small fridge, he said, resulting in first degree burns to both arms.

"It sounds more serious than it was — at least it wasn't a bottle explosion — but it was bad enough," Pedersen said.

He was flown by Auckland's Westpac rescue helicopter to the burns unit at Middlemore Hospital in South Auckland.

A short time earlier the Mangonui brigade was called to Puwheke Beach, on the Karikari Peninsula, where a 59-year-old man, also believed to be local, had fallen and dislocated a hip.

The Auckland rescue helicopter was called but was diverted to Motukaka Bay, leaving the fire crew to carry the injured man around the rocks "and through the water a bit" to a waiting ambulance.

He was admitted to Kaitaia Hospital.