An electrician was critically injured yesterday when he suffered burns while working on electrical equipment at Heald College at 1500 Kapi'olani Blvd.

The man was working on electrical distribution equipment in an electrical vault room when witnesses heard a "loud explosion like a loud bang," Honolulu fire Capt. Terry Seelig said. "They saw a bright flash and smelled burning and saw smoke."

The electrician walked out of the electrical vault room and firefighters responding to the 12:09 p.m. call found him sitting down. Seelig said he was conscious and talking.

"He had burn marks on his body like from a flash fire," Seelig said.

All power went out in the building. Firefighters suspect that electricity arced between the electrical equipment and the man's plastic bucket, which contained his tools, Seelig said.

Power to adjacent businesses was temporarily disrupted when Hawaiian Electric Co. shut off power to allow Heald College to repair its equipment, HECO spokesman Darren Pai said.