A contractor suffered serious burns on Wednesday, when an oil tank exploded in a rural area just north of Karnes City, Texas.
Explosion Ignited Eight Nearby Oil Tanks
Workers called 911 around 4:00 p.m. on January 24th to report that a tank had exploded at a site along Farm-to-Market Road 81, between Hobson and Panna Maria.
The blast ignited eight other tanks in the vicinity.
Responders from the Karnes City Fire Department and other agencies were able to bring the fire under control by 6:00 p.m.
Karnes County Sheriff Dwayne Villanueva did not know which company owned the site.
Severely Burned Contractor Airlifted to San Antonio Hospital
An unidentified contractor who had been checking the tanks suffered severe burns to most of his body. He was airlifted to San Antonio Military Medical Center.
No further details on his condition have been released.
Authorities were withholding the injured worker’s name and hometown pending family notification.
It’s not clear what caused the explosion.
The Texas Railroad Commission, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, and the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) are investigating the incident.
Texas Explosion Was 2nd Serious Oilfield Accident This Week
Just two days before the Texas explosion, five workers were killed when a drilling rig exploded in Pittsburg County, Oklahoma.
The deadly incident occurred shortly before 9:00 a.m. on Monday, January 22nd, at a site owned by Houston, Texas-based Patterson-UTI Energy and operated by Red Mountain Operating of Oklahoma City.
The five men were reported missing shortly after the explosion. 17 others working at the well-pad were able to escape the rig either uninjured or with only minor injuries.
The explosion set off a massive fire that was not extinguished until Monday evening.
The bodies of the five missing men were finally recovered on Tuesday afternoon.
Patterson-UTI has confirmed that three of its employees were killed in the explosion. The remaining two men worked for other contractors.
The were no Red Mountain employees working at the site at the time of the incident.
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