A small fire continues to burn at the spot in Skowhegan where authorities say two people were seriously injured Monday when a propane tank malfunctioned. Courtesy of the Office of State Fire Marshal

SKOWHEGAN — A man and a woman staying in a tent suffered serious burns Monday night after a propane tank malfunctioned, a fire official said.

Firefighters were called to the area of 61 Russell Road around 11 p.m., according to Chief Ronnie Rodriguez of the Skowhegan Fire Department.

They located a man and a woman, both described as adults younger than 30, who had serious burns, Rodriguez said. Their names and exact ages were not released Tuesday by the Skowhegan Fire Department or the Office of State Fire Marshal.

The two were taken via ambulance to Redington-Fairview General Hospital in Skowhegan, Rodriguez said. They remained hospitalized as of Tuesday afternoon, according to Shannon Moss, spokesperson for the Office of State Fire Marshal.

It appeared the two were staying in a tent in a wooded area off of Merrill Street, between Russell Road and Coburn Avenue, when a propane tank used for heating malfunctioned, according to Rodriguez.

The incident was investigated by the Office of State Fire Marshal and ruled accidental, according to Moss.

Signs discourage entry to a wooded area where Merrill Street dead ends in Skowhegan, near where a man and a woman suffered serious burns Monday after a propane tank malfunctioned. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

“Fire Investigators found that a leaking propane tank inside the tent ignited, resulting in a flash fire, destroying the tent and its contents,” Moss said in a statement issued Tuesday afternoon, relaying information from the fire marshal’s office.

Temperatures were in the single digits Monday night and into Tuesday morning, according to the National Weather Service in Gray. The low overnight in Madison was 3 degrees and in Waterville it was 7 degrees.

The two injured are not residents of the 61 Russell Road home, Rodriguez said. A neighbor reported the incident and provided that address to dispatchers.

In November, a 35-year-old Bangor man died after his tent was destroyed in a fire in that city, the fire marshal’s office said previously. Other tent fires in recent years have injured or killed people in Westbrook, Portland and Sanford.