Inspection Detail

Inspection: 102315132 - Refinery Terminal Fire Co.

Inspection Information - Office: Corpus Christi Area Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 1:30 p.m. on May 20, 1989, Employee #1 was opening a bleeder valve when propane gas was released from the line. Employees #2 and #4 were insulating a feed drum from a scaffold above the bleeder valve; and, as they attempted to evacuate the area, an explosion and flash fire occurred. Employees #1, #2, and #4 suffered burns and were hospitalized. Employees #5 through #8, members of an emergency response fire fighting company, sustained chemical burns to their lower limbs and hands from an unknown substance in the water on the ground after it seeped into their personal protective equipment. Employees #9 through #13 had been working from a scaffold 19 ft above the ground. In their efforts to escape, they suffered sprains, fractures, and bruises from jumping off the scaffold and running from the area. Employee #1 was under the impression that the line, which was at a pressure of 275 psi, was inactive and that it was ready to be bled down. In all, 13 employees were injured, three of them seriously enough to require hospitalization.

Keywords: LEAK, EXPLOSION, BURN, FLAMMABLE LIQUID, FIRE, WORK RULES, CHEMICAL BURN, PROPANE, FRACTURE, REFINERY