Contract Worker Injured in Texas Asphalt Plant Explosion
April 25, 2018
A contract worker was injured after a storage tank exploded at a Texas asphalt plant Monday afternoon while he was performing demolition work on an adjacent tank. Contractors were using a blow torch to take down an asphalt storage tank when a neighboring tank exploded.
A man fell 30 feet into a tank that had been damaged in an earlier explosion at the site in February. Rescue crews responded to the U.S. Polyco facility in Ennis, TX at about 12:15 p.m., cutting a hole into the side of the tank to retrieve the worker.
“Further investigation found that this fire had nothing to do with any kind of product transfer, it was general contractors doing the work. It was nothing involved with U.S. Polyco itself, so we believe it has nothing to do with the prior incident – they are not related,” the City of Ennis Fire Marshal Chad Wester told Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas broadcast news station Fox 4.
Officials believe the blast was caused by flammable materials or vapors coming in contract with the torch, Wester said. The contractor received serious injuries to a leg.
The circumstances of the blast remain under investigation.
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