dr sportster
Well-known Member
This accident occured in the driveway of a private residence near my house.The destruction was so great that the police and fire department blocked off three streets to preserve order while they surveyed the damage. A local oil-trucking company had hired two neighborhood weldors to weld taillight brackets on the rear bumper of some new trucks.The trucks were really fancy ,with fiberglass cabs,chrome plated stacks, and a large stainless-steel tank on the back for hauling crude oil.The tank was a two layer assembly with fiberglass insulation between the inner tank and the outer cover.The welding had been completed on one truck. The second truck was backed into the driveway so the weldor could get the welding cables to the rear bumper.The truck was so big that it occupied the entire driveway.The auto shop student had been watching but went home for lunch.He lived in a house one block from where the welding was being done. He heard a tremendous explosion and ran outside just in time to see a huge stainless-steel tank fall on top of the house behind his. At first he thought a missile from nearby Vanderberg AFB had exploded and was falling on the neighborhood.Then he realized the debris had come from where the trucks were being welded, so he ran down the street to find the new truck had been totally demolished .One of the weldors had been blown across the street, bruised but alive. The other fellow was found inside the kitchen of the house,also bruised but alive. The truck didn't fare as well.The oil tank ,of course had been blown off the frame,straight up 100 feet or more and had parked itself on the house roof . The cab was laying shattered in the next yard. The two chrome plated exhaust pipes had been flattened to the ground . The frame of the truck was warped and twisted . Pieces of the truck landed on cars and the rooftops of neaby houses. The new truck was totalled. Damage to the house was 50% . The two men welding on the truck escaped with minor injuries. Hello Prudential ? The explosion was caused by a welding spark igniting vapors escaping from the crude oil tank. The lesson to be learned from these accidents is that containers of flammable products should not be welded or cut with a torch. It is safest to refuse to weld on or near any such tank or container. Even vapors from non-flammable liquids can be explosive under certain conditions. And for sure vapors from flammable liquids are explosive. { From the beginning of Chapter 2 in WELDER'S HANDBOOK for the entertsinment of those who do not own the book. The book was mentioned in the welding post the other day]