Abstract: Employee #1, who was self-employed, was cutting open a treatment vessel/treater on a non-producing oil well when the treater caught on fire. The fire heated the treater, which then leaked out burning crude oil and spread the fire across the well area. Weeds and other plants next to the treater also caught on fire and the flames spread up the tank grade, igniting a wooden pump house and a valve house on the front of a water tank. The insulation on the tank also caught on fire; the insulation gradually became engulfed in flames and the tank began to hiss. A massive explosion blew off the top of the tank, which landed on Employee #1. He sustained injuries that required hospitalization.