A worker was killed after an explosion and fire inside a fuel tank at a town of Dickinson convenience store.

Police and fire units were dispatched to the Speedway shop at 704 Front Street a 1:41 p.m. Friday.

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Workers had started working on the fuel tanks at the gas station a few days ago. A customer had been told the work could take several weeks to complete.

People at the scene reported hearing an explosion followed by a fire in the tank, which is located only a few feet from Front Street.

Emergency vehicles at the Speedway convenience store on Front Street in the town of Dickinson on September 20, 2019. Photo: Bob Joseph
Emergency vehicles at the Speedway convenience store on Front Street in the town of Dickinson on September 20, 2019. Photo: Bob Joseph
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Firefighters prepared to start a rescue operation but within a matter of minutes they determined the worker in the confined space had not survived.

About two hours later, New York State Police confirmed the Syracuse-area man who had been working inside the old tank had died.

A truck from the Syracuse division of Environmental Products and Services of Vermont at the Front Street Speedway store. Photo: Bob Joseph/WNBF News
A truck from the Syracuse division of Environmental Products and Services of Vermont at the Front Street Speedway store. (Photo: Bob Joseph/WNBF News)
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Workers had started working on the fuel tanks at the gas station a few days ago. A customer had been told the work could take several weeks to complete.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been informed of the worker's death. The agency is expected to investigate the incident.

Old Front Street at Front Street was expected to be closed for an extended period because of the emergency operations.

Firefighters working at a fuel tank at the Speedway store in the town of Dickinson on September 20, 2019. (Photo: Bob Joseph/WNBF News)
Firefighters working at a fuel tank at the Speedway store in the town of Dickinson on September 20, 2019. (Photo: Bob Joseph/WNBF News)
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Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com

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