Ky man injured cutting open a metal tank

[Glenn]

A Greenup Ky was cutting up automobile gas tanks for scrap Monday afternoon when the explosion happened.  "I've seen a lot of horrible things on the job," says Deputy Ryan Houston, "This was just tragic. The force of the explosion blew him at least 20 feet."

 

News report - click here.

 

As of Tuesday, Bush was listed in critical condition at Cabell Huntington Hospital's burn unit.

[ironwolfforgeca]

THANK YOU Glen for posting this Cutting tanks or welding on them can BE A BAD day Quick !!!  :( 

KNOW ! what you're doing or DON"T !!! Do It !!!

 

Steve's Welding & Fab

[DSW]

Thanks for posting that. I've passed it along to others for their education. Drums, propane cylinders, heating oil tanks and so on can all contain explosive vapors. Be very careful if you decide to repurpose something like this. You may have done this a dozen times in the past with no problems, but it only takes one time to end your life. How much do you think he'd be willing to pay right now NOT to be in the hospital? Was it worth the risk?


Unfortunately it looks like the gentleman sadly did not survive. Our prayers go out to his family and friends.

[JNewman]

Even less volatile fuels can be explosive when contained.  There was a student at a school here in Ontario cutting a 45gallon drum open with a zip wheel who was killed a couple of years ago.  The drum had contained Peppermint oil.  The class was making barbeques for the school or a charity. 

[Frosty]

He passed away this morning. If you're applying enough force to cut a fuel tank you're applying enough force to make sparks. Fuel and air in a combustible ratio will burn if an ignition source is present, vapors will explode.

 

Seeing as it burned Mr. Bush so badly (80%) he ran engulfed in flames and there was a fire ring I believe there was gasoline in the tank. This would mean the air fuel ratio was too rich to burn so it's RELATIVELY safe. The thing that gets so many guys is the oxy jet from a cutting torch, press the lever and you're injecting pure OXYGEN surrounded by a 6,000f flame into a tank full of heated fuel vapor. The shape of the tank and evidence at the scene leads me to think that's what happened. Not that my take on the "what" of it means much.

 

I'll be saying a prayer for Mr. Bush, his family and friends. This kind of pain goes FAR beyond what Mr. Bush suffered, his family will feel the loss for a long time.

 

As has been said today and for many years, if you don't KNOW what you're doing do NOT do it. This kind of mistake can hurt a LOT more than the person making it, think about a couple kids watching or if it'd launched the tank through a widow into the house. This kind of explosion can launch a fuel tank piece hundreds of feet. Ever shoot a "spud gun"?

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[Dan C]

Just filling up your mower can be dangerous.  And how many times do you see people filling up one of these at the gas station and then putting them in an enclosed car?

 

http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/12/04/21736375-warning-scientists-say-gas-cans-carry-risk-of-explosion

[ThomasPowers]

I feel it quite likely that if someone had tried to introduce the gasoline engine for the first time nowadays it would never be allowed due to the dangers of gasoline!

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

When we had to weld a car gas tank we would flush it with water then fill it with water to almost full. then we would purge the remaining air gap with Argon, or Co2.

Too many stories of people getting hurt , or killed working on vessels of all types.

[Rich Hale]

People and many things exist for myriad reasons..Gasoline,,to pick on one of the aromatic hydrocarbons only exists for one reason!

 

To find a source of ignition. 

[Anachronist58]

Concur with all above, 

 

Very sorry.