By FireRescue1 Staff

BARBOUR COUNTY, W.Va. — A volunteer fire chief died in an explosion while working a contract job at an industrial site.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that McDonald (Pa.) Volunteer Fire Department Chief Scott Albertini, 53, was depressurizing a tank at the Midland Resources Recovery industrial site when the tank exploded, killing him and injuring a co-worker. Officials are unsure what was inside the tank or why it exploded.

Chief Albertini was part of a crew that was working to make the tanks safer after two workers were killed by an explosion in May.

“He’s been a member since he was 18 years old,” fire department president Joe Rehak said. “We’re devastated, everybody is. He was very well-liked.”

Chief Albertini is survived by his wife and two daughters.