A 37-year-old man was seriously injured Monday when chemicals exploded in the rear yard of his Azusa home, police reported.
The blast occurred about 8:35 a.m. in the 1000 block of North Sunset Avenue, according to the Azusa Police Department.
Arriving officers found the man, whose name was withheld, suffering from burn injuries to his upper body and face. Firefighters treated him at the scene before he was taken to a trauma center, police said.
"During the subsequent investigation it was determined that the explosion occurred in the rear yard of the residence, which caused burn damage to a truck that was parked in the back yard," according to a police statement.
No structures were damaged, but officers found flammable and explosive chemicals on the property, prompting the evacuation of the entire block and several other nearby homes, as well Longfellow Elementary School. Another campus, Hodge Elementary, was placed on a precautionary lockdown, police said.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department sent a bomb squad and a hazardous-materials team to the scene. The Los Angeles County Fire Department also sent a hazmat team to the location, where Azusa police detectives were leading the investigation into the cause of the blast.
"It has not been determined what role the chemicals found at the residence had in the explosion," police said.
