Everyone knows – or should know – that smoking cigarettes near flammable materials (like oil storage tanks) might cause an explosion. That appears to be exactly what happened to two Texas oil and gas workers on Tuesday, and it didn’t take long for readers to comment that these two workers deserve the “Darwin award” for their careless behavior.
But what happened exactly? Do we know for sure the cause of the explosion? Of course not, so it’s a bit early to jump to conclusions. All we know at this point, according to the Associated Press, was that both workers were sent to a hospital in Dallas, one in critical condition and on life support.
Moreover, we know that firefighters battled the flames all night from 3 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, and that three of the six oil storage tanks were wrecked in the explosion and ensuing fire.
But what conclusions can we draw from this incident?
That working an oil and gas job continues to be dangerous. Whether smoking caused this or not, things like this happen across the industry, from pipelines to oilfields to oil storage facilities. To learn more about our practice, please visit our San Antonio oil and gas law page.
Source: Oil storage tanks destroyed in Texas; 2 injured