Looks like a reactor somewhere in Hades sprung a leak:

That guy is lucky to be alive.

The crazy incident happened on Thursday in Queens, New York:

Barry West was on Farmers Boulevard in St. Albans around 5:30 p.m. Thursday when a massive plume of smoke and flames shot up from underground — knocking him backwards to the ground as he tried to walk by, the disturbing clip obtained by NBC New York shows.

Barry was taken to the hospital, where he is recovering well. Authorities are investigating what happened, but my theory is that it was the Ninja Turtles or pizza rats.

..."You can see how God just picked him out of that fire. He staggered. He had his hands up and rubbed his head and fell," friend Carrol Hamblin told the network. "Just a miracle. Nobody but God could do that. Not a man."

I don't know if it was a specific act of Providence or that a gas like methane in an open area doesn't have the temperature or pressure to immediately melt the skin off your bones, but the dude should definitely be thanking God for a new lease on life!