Abstract: The employer is a dismantler/junk dealer who employs his adult sons on an intermittent basis. Employee #1 has several years experience operating oxygen/propane cutting torches. On July 10, 1990, he cut a drain hole in a large tractor fuel tank that had been partially cut open and was found to be leaking. He noticed additional leakage from the irregular 3 in. by 3 in. opening and, as he moved away, there was an internal flash that spewed flaming vapors and liquid. Employee #1 sustained serious second- and third-degree burns on his face, neck, right side, left arm and hand. No attempt was made to determine the contents of the tank or to safely empty, purge, flush, or inert the tank prior to the cutting activity.