A South Florida chef who starred in a cable TV reality cooking show suffered third-degree burns Thursday after a gas explosion at his new restaurant in the Bahamas, Local 10 News in Miami reports.
Ralph Pagano was airlifted to a Miami hospital after the blast at Resorts World Bimini. He was turning on the kitchen's gas burners when the oven blew up.
"My hands were on fire, my shirt was on fire, my pants were on fire," Pagano told Local 10 News from Jackson Memorial Hospital.
The chef, who starred in the Lifetime show “All Mixed Up,” suffered burns on his face, legs and hands. "I thought I was going to die," he said. "Luckily, I stopped, dropped and rolled."
"I'm going to need skin grafts and about a month in the hospital, but I'm alive," Pagano said.
Pagano has made other TV appearances, including competing on “Hell's Kitchen” and “Iron Chef.”
He owns several South Florida restaurants: Naked Taco in Miami Beach, Naked Lunch in Miami and Naked Crab in Fort Lauderdale.
He was opening a new Naked Taco location when the accident occurred
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