Petroleum Tank Blast in Texas Kills Four teenagers(Palestine, Texas)

http://www.kansascity.com ^ | 4-12-03 | OXENinFLA

[OXENinFLA]

Petroleum Tank Blast in Texas Kills Four Associated Press

PALESTINE, Texas - A petroleum tank exploded as five teenagers were standing on top of it, killing four, authorities said.

Three of the teens were pronounced dead Friday night at the scene of the explosion in the Long Lake area, about 10 miles west of Palestine in eastern Texas.

A fourth died Saturday afternoon at a hospital where she was airlifted following the blast, which occurred about 10 p.m. Friday. A fifth was treated for minor injuries and released.

Authorities said the blast threw some of the teens between 50 and 75 yards away, police said. The tank, owned by Key Production Company Inc., had about 6 inches to a foot of oil in the bottom.

Investigators were trying to determine what ignited the blast.

A witness said he saw flames shoot up about 100 feet in the air. Vernel Smith, who lives about a mile from the scene, said she felt her house shake.

"It rocked my house from front to back," Smith said. "I thought my water heater had exploded or something."

Lt. Chuck Franklin said the teenagers were camping at a cabin with their grandfather Friday night, and at some point went for a walk and ended up at the tank.

[klute]

Very sad. I can just see the headlines when this hits the New York Times.

Four Palestinians Killed by Big Oil Company

[MEG33]

Goodness wins

[goodnesswins]

Yep...."goodness" is teaching kids who live in areas where oil is produced, stored, etc.....not to MOUNT those kind of containers for any reason......"goodness" is NOT niceness.

[_Jim]

... was the compound properly marked with 'hazard' warning signage ...

[Dog Gone]

There are plenty of these oil tanks around the Palestine area. While the glory days of the East Texas Field are long over, there are still many wells producing, with new ones being drilled by small independents like Key.

These teens knew darn well what they were climbing. They are a common sight. And every parent with any brains would have warned their kids about climbing on them.

They are dangerous because of the fumes, and there have been cases where oil field workers have actually fallen into them and died.

But they don't explode on their own. Sometimes lightning will set one on fire, but that's not what happened here. One of the kids lit something.

[Clara Lou]

If someone had really cared they wouldn't have let them mount the oil "can."
Do you really think that their parents are following them around every moment? If the parents were aware that they were on that tank, then the parents are guilty of horrific stupidity. If not, I don't think you can call the parents uncaring or negligent in their duties. Parents cannot peer over their children's shoulders 24 hours a day.

[goodnesswins]

Are YOU an attorney.....is every street in America marked with a "warning" sign or fenced off? In other words....children who live in oil producing areas should know NOT to climb on oil tanks, just as kids in a busy street area are warned to stay out of the streets.

[goodnesswins]

see Posts 45 and 47

[Servant of the Nine]

1) Cruel comment. They were teenagers. Teenagers are ignorant and notorious for believing that they are impervious to harm. 2) There is a HUGE difference between ignorance and stupidity.

Bravo.

If anyone wants to point fingers, how about all of the adults who build dangerous facilities and then don't secure them. If a teenager can wander into a facility like that and set off an explosion by accident, someone with malice could easily do the same on purpose.

There are tens of thousands of these tanks all over East Texas. There is no possibility of kids simply being ignorant. They would have had to be willfully ignorant, that is, STUPID.

Tanks are ordinarily surrounded by an earthen berm to contain the oil in the event of a rupture and by a barbed wire or chain link fence. Teens in East Texas certainly know it is lethal to cross any fence, ever.

So9

[_Jim]

..is every ...

Regardless if every 'street' is marked in your area or if you insist that "children living in [an] oil producing area should know NOT to climb ..." does not remove the responsibility of the oil company to have in place certain minimum safegards to restrict unauthorized access by persons ...

We here in America who own property generally have certains 'minimum' to meet in order to 'safe' property - industry (oil, manufacturing, etc) have addititional measures to take and requiremets to meet in order to protect 'idiots', children and 'the public' who might wander onto their property.

[_Jim]

Geez, where's my proof-reader:

     ... certain 'minimums' to meet in order to assure 'safe' property ...

[goodnesswins]

Yeah....my husband just came in and told me our deck is really, really slippery......better warn the neighbors, too, cause that means driveways and sidewalks are gonna be slippery, also. (We live in the Pacific NW where slippery are the streets and sidewalks, as it rains a lot.....Sheesh.) C'mon....fess up....you ARE an attorney, too. LOL.

[sinclair]

Happy Second Anniversary of FReeping.

[_Jim]

our deck is really, really slippery.....

Well, I wouldn't think that specific notice to the neighbors is necessary *if* the neighbors own similar houses and have similar 'decks' that custimarily become as 'slippery when wet', however, if you do a lot of entertaining of persons not so acquianted with 'slippery when wet decks' it might not be such a bad idea to either a) remove the 'slippery' problem or b) mark appropriately ... <grin>

[Sloth]

Look for the tank owner to be sued.

[_Jim]

For?

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

Four Palestinians Killed by Big Oil Company

I was wondering how they wrote their headlines. ROFL!!!

[Sloth]

On general principle. It's a company, they've probably got money, their property was involved -- that's more than enough reason for most lawyers to sue them. Same as the gun manufacturers.

[oyez]

Lawsuits will be filed Monday morning.

[Bigg Red]

True, they were stupid, fatally stupid, and some kids are more impulsive than others. I was primarily responding to the poster who blamed the parents for not warning the kids against doing such a thing.