On September 16, 2024, a 20-year-old male wash bay attendant (victim) attempted to utilize an electric grease gun to apply grease to the rear axle of a liquid petroleum gas (LPG) tank trailer. As the victim activated the grease gun, a spark ignited the butane gas that was actively escaping the cargo tank, instantly engulfing the victim in fire. The victim succumbed to the injuries sustained in the incident seven days after it occurred. The decedent was a high school graduate and had worked for the employer for five months.
The employer is a commercial trucking company that transports compressed gases across the United States and Canada. Established more than 60 years ago, the company has experienced substantial growth and now operates seven physical terminals and 12 satellite locations across the United States. According to the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration, the company travels nearly 7,000,000 miles annually and is registered as an active interstate carrier. The trucking company is registered to transport liquefied gases and aggregates. According to a company representative, the company employs 275 people, including drivers, maintenance personnel, and support staff.
The employer did not have a formal safety training program for maintenance staff members at the time the incident occurred.
The incident occurred in a gravel parking lot at the company’s Kentucky location. The property houses a large metal building used as an equipment maintenance facility and employee offices. Both trucks and trailers park around the perimeter of the property.
The weather on the day of the incident was approximately 77 degrees Fahrenheit, with 52% humidity and a 5 mph wind out of the northeast. The weather is not believed to have been a factor in this incident.
INVESTIGATION
On September 16, 2024, a 20-year-old male wash bay attendant (victim) arrived for his shift at 3:00 p.m. The victim worked 2nd shift, which ran from 3:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., Monday through Friday each week. At approximately 5:00 p.m., a commercial driver arrived at the company’s Kentucky facility requesting a new trailer for an upcoming delivery of propane gas. Upon request, a maintenance shop employee coupled a semi-truck to the requested tank trailer to position it for the driver. After coupling the semi-truck to the trailer, the employee discovered that the brakes on the trailer were seized. As a result, the trailer could not be moved. Concurrently, the employee also observed 75 lbs of pressure on the trailer gauge, concluding that the trailer still contained compressed butane gas.
Considering that the trailer would soon need to be loaded with propane gas, the 75 lbs of butane gas would need to be removed from the trailer. The process of depressurizing the trailer is referred to as flaring. Flaring burns the unwanted gas by utilizing the trailer’s internal and external valves, a delivery hose, and a flare system. The flare system sits away from the trailer and expels the gas upward and ignites it, burning the gas rather than releasing raw product directly into the atmosphere. However, according to the involved company, in lieu of utilizing the flare, the trailer valve was opened, and the butane gas escaped the trailer via a 20-ft hose that ran along the passenger’s side of the trailer, on the ground.
The maintenance employee then directed the victim to retrieve a grease gun to aid in unseizing the brakes. The victim retrieved an electric grease gun from the maintenance shop and proceeded under the tank trailer to grease the brakes himself at approximately 5:30 p.m. Upon activating the electric grease gun, the butane gas escaping the trailer ignited, engulfing the victim and the rear of the trailer in fire. The victim was pulled out from underneath the trailer by the other maintenance employee present. The victim began to run toward the shop in a panic. The other maintenance employee present immediately contacted emergency services as he shouted to the victim to stop, drop, and roll, which the victim eventually did. The stop, drop, and roll method extinguished the fire that had engulfed the victim.
Both ambulance and fire arrived approximately 10 minutes after the call for assistance was placed. The trailer fire was extinguished and the victim, who was conscious and communicating, was transported to a Kentucky-based university hospital. The victim, who was placed into a medically induced coma, succumbed to the injuries sustained in the incident seven days later, on September 23, 2024.