Nut farmer John Linton died of smoke inhalation from an explosion at his home in western New York State.
The fire was extinguished, and Linton was airlifted to a local hospital, where he later died, according to the New York Daily News.
Linton had owned and operated Nut House Farms since 2009.
Nut House is one of several nut farming operations in New York City, including the New Jersey Farm Sanctuary, which was shut down in 2015 after an investigation found more than 1,000 pounds of hazmat material, including more than 50 hazmat trucks, was stored in a shipping container.
Lenton’s death marks the second death in the last year of a nut farmer in the New England region.
In April, Nut House employee Matthew Waddington died after inhaling fumes from a shipment of hazmats stored in an open container at a warehouse in Fairfield, New Jersey.
Waddingham worked at Nut House for nine years, the company said at the time.
Nut house did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Littles death comes as hazmat inspections and a state-imposed moratorium on hazmat shipments to New York state have raised questions about the safety of the hazmat products being sent to the state.
