Abstract: At approximately 8:06 p.m. on December 13, 2009, Employee #1, a quarry production utility leadman, was attempting to light a large natural gas torch with a friction lighter when an inadvertent buildup of gas from the torch exploded. When the explosion occurred, Employee #1 was thrown from, or jumped from, the step ladder he was using and landed on the steel catwalk about five feet below. He was hospitalized with second-degree and third-degree burns from the explosion and hip bruising from the fall to the cat walk. The cause of this accident was a failure to use or follow any of the instructions that had been included with the torch (Belchfire Model E natural gas/compressed air fired torch). An additional contributing causal factor, which increased the force of the explosion, was the repeated failed attempts to light the torch while the torch's combustion chamber was directed down into a cyclone vessel. This resulted in an accumulation of natural gas inside the cyclone vessel, which exploded when the friction lighter sparked.