Tonganoxie ? A rural Leavenworth County man, who family members say was welding a gasoline tank to a truck, was critically burned Tuesday morning in an explosion and fire four miles east of Tonganoxie.

Elmer “Bill” Lee, 39, was working on the truck in a barn at 18275 182nd St. when the explosion occurred about 9:50 a.m.

Lee was taken by air ambulance to University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, Kan.

Lee’s stepdaughter, Jaime Smith, saw him running from the barn after the explosion.

“He was yelling, ‘Help me,'” Smith said. “I told him to drop and roll to put himself out. He was covered in gasoline.”

Firefighters and paramedics were pushed back from the barn several times by smaller explosions. The metal barn was melted by the fire.