FORT WALTON BEACH -- A 28-year-old employee working at Air Conditioning Engineers on Fourth Street was rushed to the hospital Friday morning after a small tire exploded in his face, according to emergency workers.
"He was putting air into a dolly tire and for some reason the tire failed," said Fort Walton Beach Battalion Chief Danny Fureigh. "It had a two-piece rim.
"It pretty much exploded," Fureigh added. "One piece of the rim and part of the tire hit him in the face."
The impact pushed the man's glasses into the bones around his right eye, which might have protected his eyeball, Fureigh said.
Part of the rim also hit outside of the patient's orbital area, he said.
Rescue workers called a trauma alert on the patient and tried to get a medical helicopter to fly him to a trauma center, but no helicopters were available.
"We could not hold up treatment," Fureigh said.
The patient was taken to Fort Walton Beach Medical Center with a possible orbital skull fracture, Fureigh said.
He added that the tire was a six-inch tire for a common household dolly.
The accident happened at about 7:30 a.m.
The person who answered the phone at Air Conditioning Engineers said no one would comment on the accident.