[1]FRANKLIN, Tenn. (BP)–Lloyd Blackwell, manager of the Linden Valley Baptist Conference Center in Linden, Tenn., was burned April 25 in a freak accident at a local gas station.
Fire department officials speculate the fire may have been caused by static electricity.
According to William Maxwell, administrative director for the Tennessee Baptist Convention, witnesses reported Blackwell had just finished filling a gas can and had replaced the hose on the tank. When he turned around he was engulfed in flames.
Both Blackwell’s truck and the pump where he was parked were charred as a result of the fire, according to a news report.
Maxwell reported that Ted Holmes, minister of administration/missions, Forest Hills Baptist Church, Nashville, was in the gas station when he heard someone yell fire.
Holmes grabbed a fire extinguisher and rushed to Blackwell to put out the flames, according to Maxwell.
[2]Blackwell, who received second and third degree burns on 50 percent of his body, was airlifted to the Burn Center at Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville, Tenn.
He is expected to need additional surgeries and will be hospitalized for about two months.
His family includes his wife, Jodi, and daughters, Brooke, 3, and Autumn, 8 weeks old.
Maxwell asked for prayer for Blackwell, his family, and the camp staff.
Updates on Blackwell’s condition can be found on the TBC Web site at www.tnbaptist.org.
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