Abstract: On January 2, 1990, Employee #1 engaged in the scraping of an underground gasoline storage tank applied his oxy-acetylene torch to the tank and ignited the vapor given off by its residual contents. The employee was killed when the fuel tank exploded. The fuel tank had not been filled with water, purged, or made inert. Only an emulsifier of insufficient quantity had been added three days before the work and this did not effectively blanket or break down the product remaining in the tank. In addition, the tank was moved after adding the emulsifier, allowing for increased liberation of flammable vapor.