Abstract: At 11:00 a.m. on May 22, 2004, Employee #1, a foreman, and another employee were working on the vapor recovery system for an old asphalt plant, removing the steel pipes from the system. Employee #1 and the other employee were on an elevated platform near the silos and the foreman was on the ground. Just before the accident, Employee #1 was cutting a pipe, 12 inches in diameter and about 15 feet long. One end of the pipe was connected to a main pipe at a T-connection, and the other end was secured by a support bracket. Employee #1 was cutting the pipe with a welding torch close to the T-connection. The foreman and the other employee had fire extinguishers with them, because they were expecting fire inside the pipes due to oil and asphalt residue. As Employee #1 made a cut, fire got caught inside the pipe. The end of the pipe was not cut completely. Employee #1 and the other employee tried to extinguish the fire. Employee #1 tried to hand over a fire extinguisher to the other employee with his left hand. He had placed his right hand on the top of an air tank for support when the support bracket for the pipe gave way and the pipe fell on Employee #1's right hand, causing multiple fractures to his right hand, which required 3 surgeries and hospitalization for 5 days.