The second victim in a gas explosion that injured two City of Albany employees earlier this month has been identified.
The Civil Service Employees Association, the union that represents Department of General Services employees, reported that 47-year-old DGS supervisor Anthony Hughes is still being treated at Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse. He is in critical but stable condition.
Hughes suffered second and third degree burns on 30% of his body.
Citing his doctors, the union says it will take a year or longer for Hughes to heal.
City officials had previously declined to disclose Hughes' identity at the request of the family.
The other employee injured in the blast, 62-year-old Albany Fire Department Battalion Chief Wayne Brennan, also suffered severe burns.
The explosion occurred minutes after a temporary gas pump at the DGS headquarters started leaking. The cause of the explosion is still under investigation.
CSEA Capital Region President Shana Davis said that the union is participating in the investigation into the explosion.
“Our role is to try to figure out what happened,” said Davis. “It really is important that we as a union work together with all the powers that are in play to make sure that we get the answers we need, make sure that all workers are safe and that nothing like this ever happens to another worker.”
