APRIL 14, 2015
OMAHA, NE
An explosion in a rail yard killed two men Tuesday afternoon
in southeast Omaha. The explosion was
caused during cleaning of the railcar that used to hold flammable material.
The force of the blast blew one man off of a tanker car and
to the ground, while the ladder shot out of the car and left another man
trapped.
Dallas Faulk, 40, was lying on the ground when first
responders arrived. He died after being transported in extremely critical
condition to Creighton University Medical Center. Faulk's 41st birthday
would have been next Monday.
The other man’s body was extricated by Omaha firefighters
about 6 hours after the explosion. His identity had not been released pending
notification of his family.
Battalion Chief Tim McCaw of the Omaha Fire Department said
the two men were cleaning out a tanker car near First and Hickory Streets about
1:10 p.m. when the explosion occurred.
“They were on their way out,” McCaw said. “(Witnesses) said
that they had heard an explosion from the railcar, and one person was lying on
the ground when crews arrived.”
Crews were unable to immediately enter the car because of
unsafe levels of hazardous materials. They had tested the levels at least
twice.
“We always err on the side of caution,” McCaw said. “You
have to just kind of wait, do the ventilation, do your due diligence and then
let the readings come down before we enter.”
Before it was safe to enter, firefighters were not able to
communicate with the trapped man but had “obtained a visual,” McCaw said.
Officials of the department’s Special Operations team first
entered the tanker at about 7:15 p.m. and recovered the trapped man 15 minutes
later, McCaw said. The man was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators are still determining what types of chemicals
were in the car and what caused the blast.
The two men worked at Nebraska Railcar Cleaning Services,
operated by GE Capital Rail Services, said a GE spokesperson.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has
inspected the business three times in the last five years, the most recent
being a follow-up inspection in March. That case is still open.
The federal agency determined that there were seven
violations from complaints in 2013, related to flammable and combustible
liquids, confined spaces permits, noise exposure, respiratory protection and
powered industrial trucks.
Nebraska Railcar Cleaning Services paid nearly $7,000 to
resolve the violation allegations, according to inspection documents.
According to the cleaning company’s website, workers can
clean a wide array of commodities, including food grade oils, herbicides,
petroleum, sand and soils. It is unclear what substance the tanker held.
To clean a tanker car, two workers use a portable steam
boiler to heat up the car and then clean with a hot water power washer, the
website said.
All workers are certified with hazardous waste, fire, safety
and medical training, the website said.
Nebraska Secretary of State filings show that Steven M.
Braithwaite is the managing member of the cleaning service company and
president of Omaha TransLoading Corp., a company housed in the same building at
115 Hickory St.
Attempts to reach Braithwaite or workers at the companies
were unsuccessful.
GE Capital released a statement Tuesday:
“Right now we are focused on the safety of those in the shop
and our thoughts and sympathies are with those who were affected by this
unfortunate accident.” (based on their contractors' safety records and violations, this is
lip service.)
Andy Tornow, 35, who works at body shop Paul Lucht and Sons
Inc., at 1519 S. Third St., said he heard a sound like two trains colliding,
turned around and saw flames shooting 30 to 50 feet in the air.
“It sounded ... just percussion ... just big,” he said.
“Then it became dead silent.”
Thirty firefighters responded. Officials from the Omaha
Police Department, OSHA and BNSF Railway Co., which owns the track and train
lines, were also at the scene.