MOAB — Two oil-field workers were injured Thursday in Grand County when fumes ignited on the drilling rig where they work.

Jeremiah Thurston and Lyle "Red" Anthony, both of Grand Junction, Colo., were part of a crew cleaning out a natural gas well in Horse Point Canyon, according to the Grand County Sheriff's Office. The crew was pumping sand, oil and gas into a flow back tank, sheriff's investigators said, when fumes from the tank drifted over to the rig motor, causing it to rev.

Thurston and Anthony were walking toward the motor to shut it down when the fumes ignited, the sheriff's office said.

Thurston, 25, was flown by medical helicopter to the burn center at University Hospital with burns to his hands and face. Anthony was treated at the scene.

— Geoff Liesik