UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

At approximately 1:15 p.m. on September 11, 2003, Employee #1, a Landscape Manager for Castlerock Development, and two coworkers were using a wood splitter. Earlier that day, Employee #1 had twice refueled the splitter without shutting it off. He would idle down the engine, remove the gas cap, and add fuel; each time, the machine took at least 10 gallons of gas. Approximately 45 minutes after returning from a lunch, Employee #1 started to refuel the splitter again without shutting it off. This time when he removed the cap, fuel gushed out from the tank like a volcano, spraying Employee #1 and catching fire. He sustained third-degree burns to his entire right hand, to his right arm, and to a small part of his waist. Employee #1 was initially treated at Twin Cities Hospital, in Templeton, CA, and then transferred to the Fresno University Burn Center; he was later seen at the Grossman Burn Center in Sherman Oaks, CA. The employer was cited for an accident-related violation, serious, of T8CCR 3319(a), related to fueling.