Baltimore County firefighters plan a controlled burning today of a Woodlawn house damaged in an explosion Thursday night when the occupant -- a retired firefighter -- was mixing chemicals, apparently to make fireworks.

Patrick W. Monaghan, 50, of the 2000 block of Hillside Drive was in critical condition yesterday at the burn unit at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. He suffered second-degree burns over his entire body when the chemicals he was mixing, including magnesium, exploded.

Baltimore County Fire Department Battalion Chief Mark Hubbard said Monaghan's home will be burned at 8 a.m. today because it is structurally damaged and the chemical residue from the explosion is embedded in the one-story, single-family house.

"This is the safest way to incinerate it," he said of the chemical residue.

Hubbard said some neighbors in the area will be evacuated to a nearby fire station during the burning, which is expected to take four to six hours.

Monaghan retired from the Westview Station of the Fire Department on a disability pension several years ago.

Pub Date: 3/20/99