Two people were burned Tuesday afternoon in a flash fire at the Handy-Mart gas station in Ayden. Police say a car hit a gas pump, knocking it over. Lawmen say the driver, Charles Coburn of Grifton, told family members he blacked out and doesn't remember a thing. Authorities say Cheryl Miller and her daughter Christina were near the scene and Christina suffered a flashburn from the explosion. It was the quick thinking of a worker at a nearby McDonald's refilling the soda fountain, who kept the fire from spreading by spraying carbon dioxide on the flames. Coburn was taken to the burn center at Chapel Hill Tuesday and is listed in critical condition.
