One scientist was killed and another injured in an explosion at a technology company in the Bay Area suburb of Menlo Park, authorities said Saturday.

The blast occurred in a laboratory at Membrane Technology and Research Inc. as scientist Adrian Martin, 56, of San Jose was transferring a mixture of several gases, including methane, from one cylinder to another about 4:15 p.m. Friday, said Harold Schapelhouman, chief of the Menlo Park Fire Protection District.

The explosion caused an unidentified female scientist standing near an open door to be blown out of the laboratory, Schapelhouman said.

Other laboratory workers carried Martin into the hallway before arriving firefighters went into the building to lead them outside. Twenty-three other workers were evacuated from the building.


Firefighters and paramedics performed CPR and other advanced life support on Martin, who had slipped into cardiac arrest, but he died, Schapelhouman said.

The injured woman was taken to Stanford Hospital with eardrum damage, he added.

Schapelhouman said fire inspectors were inside the cleared building late Friday night, and would probe the cause of the explosion with investigators from Cal-OSHA.

He said it was possible that the cylinder with the gases exploded because it had become over-pressurized.


Schapelhouman said the company had passed a fire inspection in March.

hector.becerra@latimes.com