THREE WORKERS DURING WELDING WORK IN THE BASEMENT KILLED IN FIRE AT THANKSGIVING TOWER IN DOWNTOWN DALLAS - ALLEGEDLY, THE CONTRACTOR HAD NO VALID PERMITS TO DO WELDING

Three workers during welding work in the basement killed in fire at Thanksgiving Tower in downtown Dallas, TEXAS - allegedly, the contractor had no valid permits to do welding, cutting or hot work

updated-12-13-2014
All three of the workers’ deaths have been ruled accidental due to smoke inhalation, the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s office said.

The three workers who died in a fire under Thanksgiving Tower on Thursday were using a torch to repair a 30-foot-deep water tank, according to federal authorities.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said in a statement Friday that the men were Texas HVAC employees whom Best Mechanical Inc. hired to clean four water tanks in the lower levels of the tower.

The storage tank they were working in — part of the building’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning system — caught fire as the workers used a torch to cut away its rusted and corroded components, according to the OSHA statement.

OSHA said its investigators remain on site and do not know how long the investigation will take. The organization has not yet said whether it has found any safety violations.
But Dallas Fire-Rescue Assistant Fire Chief Ted Padgett said Best Mechanical hasn’t had a valid permit to welding or cutting since December 2009. He also said Thanksgiving Tower’s permit for welding, cutting and hot work expired in March.
The 32-year-old skyscraper is undergoing an $18 million renovation.

Updated at 9 p.m.: Two of the three victims were identified by the Dallas County Medical Examiner as Oscar Esparza-Romo, 36, and Luis Carrillo-Solorzano, 43.

Updated at 5:55 p.m. by Robert Wilonsky, Claire Z. Cardona and Tristan Hallman: Jason Evans, spokesman for Dallas Fire-Rescue, says the bodies of three workers were found following this morning’s fire at Thanksgiving Tower.

The workers were in the basement of the downtown Dallas high-rise working in the thermal storage tank that is part of the heating, ventilating and air conditioning unit beneath the building. Said Evans, it was initially believed to be an electrical fire or a car fire because “the smoke was so thick” it was difficult to tell where it began.

“But when firefighters made their way to the source of the smoke, it turned out to be located in an equipment room, located at the bottom of a 35-foot hatch, on a lower parking garage level,” Evans says.

At least one of the men killed was a subcontractor hired by Best Mechanical Inc.

“Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to these families, especially at this time of the year,” said Cheri Torres, a spokesperson for Best Mechanical. She said all the men had safety equipment, and had evacuation procedures.

Evans says firefighters knew there might be workers “in the area where the fire was located, but heat and visibility” kept them from reaching the three men. Only after the smoke cleared were their bodies found.

“Currently firefighters are still in the process of extricating them from their resting point,” Evans says. They will then be transferred to the Dallas County Medical Examiner, where a cause of death will be determined.

“There were approximately 2,800 people in the building when the fire began, and they were our primary concern as the incident evolved,” Evans says. “While several people were evaluated outside of the building, only three were taken to hospitals with non-life-threatening issues.”

Assistant Fire Chief Ted Padgett said Thanksgiving Tower’s permit for welding, cutting and hot works expired in March of this year. A contractor doing business as “Best Mechanical” at 1601 Bryan Street (the flip side of the same building) also hasn’t had a valid permit to do that kind of work since December 2009, he said.

Elm and Ervay and St. Paul have reopened in front of the tower, and DART has resumed bus service in the area.

Update at 4:24 p.m.: Officials confirm that there are fatalities at Thanksgiving Tower, but they are not yet releasing the number of dead — or the names. Dallas Fire-Rescue is preparing to release a statement to the media with more details.

Rescue workers, having completed their search and recovery efforts, are wheeling equipment out of the garage. Meanwhile, family members are returning to the lobby.

Massey Disaster Planning CEO Curtis Massey, whose firm wrote the plan for firefighters to deal with fires in the high-rise building, happened to be nearby while the blaze started.

He said Thanksgiving Tower’s underground areas are in a confined space, making them vulnerable to heavy smoke. That could make it difficult for firefighters to see anything, he said.

Massey said Dallas Fire-Rescue was on top of the fire from the start.

“There was excellent interface between building staff and fire commanders,” he said. “It seemed to be a very well-coordinated operation.”

Update at 3:56 p.m.: Juan Rodriguez, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration spokesperson in Dallas, says federal authorities are “investigating the circumstances surrounding the fire.” But that is all he can say, at the moment: “It’s just too early in the investigation.”

Meanwhile, family of the three missing men await word concerning their location or condition.

Update at 3:19 p.m.: A woman who says she’s related to two of the missing men — one is her uncle, the other is her cousin — is in the lobby of Thanksgiving Tower and says authorities have not yet told relatives whether they have been able to locate the missing workers.

Police aren’t telling them much, actually, because in the words of one officer, they don’t “want to give them any information that is not true.”

One of the workers’ wives is waiting in the tower lobby, awaiting word of her husband’s whereabouts. That couple has five young children.

Despite earlier reports that the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office was headed to Thanksgiving Tower, coroners have not been sighted at the location.

Update at 2:30 p.m.: People who work inside the building were allowed back in around 2:15 p.m. to retrieve their belongings. But many offices inside Thanksgiving Tower closed shop for the day and told employees to come back Friday.

Around 2:30, cars began exiting the underground garage through the entrance as fire officials continued their investigation inside. Streets near the garage exit remain blocked off.

The streets quickly filled up with people evacuated from the building.

Update at 2:22 p.m.: A worried family member of three men working in the garage has not heard from them since the fire broke out.

She said the family has been trying to reach the men since this morning, but “they have no signal down there.”

Fire officials have yet to confirm any serious injuries or fatalities in this morning’s fire.

But a search-and-rescue team just went into the parking garage, carrying gurneys loaded down with equipment.

Updated at 1:20 p.m.:

There are reports that up to three construction workers are unaccounted for after this morning’s fire at Thanksgiving Tower.

Our colleagues at KXAS-TV (NBC5) report that the medical examiner’s office was called to the scene, so that may signal a fatality at the parking garage. Dallas Fire-Rescue, however, has not confirmed any fatalities, however — just two people transported for smoke inhalation.

And the ME’s office will not confirm that they were called to the skyscraper: “We have no information about downtown, period,” a rep said.

J.D. Miles with KTVT-TV (Channel 11) also reports that two workers are unaccounted for after the fire. Initial reports were that two welders may have been trapped in a room that was too hot for investigators to enter.

Firefighters have set up a stretcher near the entrance to the parking garage.

Updated at 11:20 a.m.:

Dallas Fire-Rescue reports that the fire at Thanksgiving Tower has been extinguished.

The streets around the building will remain closed off for at least another 90 minutes.

Original post:

Dallas firefighters evacuated Thanksgiving Tower in downtown Dallas after a fire broke out in the building’s parking garage.

The fire was reported about 10:20 a.m. at the high-rise in the 1600 block of Elm Street. Fire-Rescue spokesman Jason Evans said there was an electrical fire in the underground parking garage.

“We are currently coordinating with the power company so they can cut the power to the location before we can attack the fire directly,” he said.

The building, which houses the Tower Club, was evacuated, and the alert quickly escalated to three alarms, with more than a dozen fire engines called to the scene. At least two people were taken to a hospital for smoke inhalation, while others were treated at the scene.

Some people were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation.

Evans said there were 2,800 people in the building, “and they are all in the process of being evacuated.” Hundreds of people packed the sidewalks around the tower.

Scott Hayes, a lawyer whose office is in Thanksgiving Tower, said he saw and smelled heavy smoke coming from the north side of the tower when he returned from a break to buy some gum.

He said he saw workers with hard hats rushing out of the tower, as other occupants streamed out of the high rise’s staircases. Other people said they saw smoke billowing out of the driveway that leads to the underground garage.

Hayes’ car is parked in the tower’s garage and he said he hopes it wasn’t damaged in the fire.

Devon Smith, who works in the high-rise, told our colleagues at KXAS-TV (NBC5), that it could be hours before they will be allowed to return to the building.

Several streets are closed around the tower, including Elm Street from St. Paul to Akard and Ervay from Pacific to Main.

The 32-year-old skyscraper is in the midst of an $18 million renovation, our Steve Brown reported last month.