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LOS ANGELES — An explosion and flash fire severely burned five workers after a halogen lamp ignited lacquer fumes on the 23rd floor of a condominium near the UCLA campus. 

Third-floor resident Donna Currie said Thursday afternoon’s blast felt like an earthquake. 

“It was huge. It shook twice – boom, boom,” she said. “The automatic doors began closing. We saw water coming down the stairwells. If we felt it down this low, it was probably pretty rough where it occurred.” 

Three victims were in critical condition and breathing with the aid of respirators at the Grossman Burn Center in Sherman Oaks and were being prepared for “the first of many surgeries” this weekend, Grossman spokesman Larry Weinberg said Friday. 

“While their injuries are life-threatening, doctors at Grossman Burn Center hope and expect that they will recover,” Weinberg said. 

Weinberg identified the victims as: 

• Juan Jimenez, 25, of Santa Ana with second- and third-degree burns over 49 percent of his upper body. 

• Barry Ellegaard, 36, of Laguna Niguel with second- and third-degree burns to 55 percent of his upper body. 

• Armando Mesa, age and hometown unknown, with second- and third-degree burns to 35 percent of his upper body. 

One man was hospitalized at the University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center trauma unit with first- and second-degree burns to 30 percent of his body. A nursing supervisor said he was to be transferred to the burn center. 

Another, who was treated at the UCLA Medical Center earlier, had second- and third-degree burns to 75 percent of his body, she said. 

A preliminary investigation showed the men were working with flammable lacquer when the halogen light, used because of its brightness, was turned on, igniting the fumes. The flash-fire explosion shattered glass and set off fire alarms, Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey said. 

The building’s emergency water sprinklers quickly doused the flames, he said. 

Officials with the 26-story, Wilshire Boulevard condominium said its residents include actors Rodney Dangerfield and Charlie Sheen.