Newtown Hook & Ladder volunteer firefighters were dispatched at 11:48 am on Sunday, November 25, to the Newtown Country Club at 2 Country Club Road after receiving a report that a kitchen worker there had been injured in a cooking accident involving an oven.

Fire Marshal Rich Frampton said November 26 that the unidentified man in his 30s, who is the chef at the club’s restaurant, opened the door of a gas oven to place some food inside it and a flash fire occurred, causing relatively minor burns to the man’s face and arms.

The fire marshal said that the oven’s gas pilot light apparently had gone out, allowing gas to build up inside the device. When the oven door was opened and some spark occurred, the gas instantly ignited in a flash fire, injuring the chef, the fire marshal said.

The Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps transported the conscious injured man to the Connecticut Burn Center at Bridgeport Hospital for treatment, Mr Frampton said.

Eversource, which owns the natural gas utility in the area, went to the country club to investigate the incident, he added.

Jaime Shore, the country club manager, said November 27 that the injured chef was released from the hospital on November 25. The burns that the chef received fortunately were not serious burns, she said.

Ms Shore said that the kitchen closed after the incident, but the bar at the club has remained open. After certain repairs are made to the oven, it is expected to be back in service by November 29 or 30.

The injured man was resting at home on November 27, according to Ms Shore.