Thursday, April 16, 2015

1 WORKER WHO SURVIVED TANKER BLAST THAT KILLED 2 OTHERS WAS ATOP RAILCAR WEARING HARNESS. NEBRASKA RAILCAR CLEANING SERVICES HAD BEEN FINED BY OSHA BEFORE THE DEADLY EVENT









APRIL 16, 2015

OMAHA, NEBRASKA

One worker survived the explosion at a southeast Omaha rail yard that killed two men Tuesday afternoon.

Dallas Foulk, 40, and Adrian LaPour, 44, died while cleaning a tanker railcar near South First and Hickory Streets. Foulk was exiting the car and was blown off the railcar by the explosion, and LaPour was trapped inside when the ladder blew out.

A third worker was atop the railcar and wearing a harness, which prevented him from suffering any serious injuries when he too was blown off, said Scott Allen, a spokesman for the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

That worker’s name has not been made public.

“Many workers are injured or die on the job when just a few simple steps could have saved their lives or prevented injury,” Allen said.

OSHA officials were at the scene of the explosion Wednesday to investigate the company involved, Nebraska Railcar Cleaning Services.

OSHA investigated the company in 2013 and accused it of eight serious violations. As a result, Nebraska Railcar Cleaning Services paid nearly $7,000 in penalties.

On Wednesday, officials of Nebraska Railcar Cleaning Services issued a statement saying their thoughts and prayers were with the families of their “two valued employees.”

“We are working in full cooperation with authorities to discover details about the accident,” the statement said.

Omaha fire officials have not declared what caused the blast or what chemicals were in the tanker.

Battalion Chief Tim McCaw, a spokesman for the Fire Department, said that when crews arrived they couldn’t rush into the tank for fear that the mixture of gas and air inside was flammable and would lead to another explosion.

Based on witness accounts, firefighters knew that LaPour, stuck inside, was dead; they later spotted his body.

The teams ventilated the tank until they determined it was safe to go inside. LaPour’s body was retrieved at about 7:30 p.m., more than six hours after the explosion.

Crews were called to the scene, 120 Hickory Street, at 1:11 p.m. Witnesses later told officials a large explosion had blown one man to the ground and left one trapped inside.

Foulk, the man found on the ground, died a short time later at Creighton University Medical Center. His and LaPour’s relatives could not be reached Wednesday.

Results of the autopsies on the two men are pending, McCaw said.
Source: http://www.omaha.com