Abstract: On June 20, 2004, an employee was assisting his son, who was CEO of company, to do a bore. He was cutting steel blocks using a ring from the inside of 24-in. diameter steel pipe as casing for a horizontal bore. The auger hung up on casing during pullout and the CEO went inside to burn off obstructions. He came out after 1.5 hours and the employee went in with hammer and wedge to knock off blocks. After knocking off blocks which had been cut, the employee asked the CEO to turn on the torch so he could cut more blocks. After about 5 minutes the employee yelled out to turn off the gas bottles and smoke started pouring out of the open end of the bore. The employee was approximately 70 ft inside the pipe when he apparently cut through his gas lines, creating an oxygen-rich fire, which burned him to death inside of the pipe. The bore was to be approximately 150 ft long for installation of a new 12-in. water line under the highway.