OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14426969

ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATURAL GAS COMPANY,INC.

GLENWOOD SPRINGS, CO· 1985-12-16T00:00:00

Event: MAINTENANCE, COLLAPSE, FLAMMABLE VAPORS, FIRE, EXPLOSION, GAS LEAK, PROPANE
NAICS: 000000
Inspection type: Accident-driven
Activity number: #1500602
Employer profile: ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATURAL GAS COMPANY,INC.
Summary number: 14426969
Report ID: 830500

Event description

PROPANE GAS RELEASED INTO BUILDING; EXPLOSION OCCURRED

Investigation abstract

EMPLOYEES #1 THROUGH #27 WERE WORKING AT THEIR REGULARLY ASSIGNED TASKS IN A TWO E HEATER IGNITED THE PROPANE, CAUSING AN EXPLOSION. THE ENTIRE BUILDING WAS DEST ROYED. THE SECOND STORY OF THE BUILDING COLLAPSED ONTO THE GROUND FLOOR. FIRE CO NSUMED A GREAT DEAL OF THE BUILDING'S CONTENTS. EMPLOYEES #1 THROUGH #12 DIED IN THE EXPLOSION OR FIRE, WHILE EMPLOYEES #13 THROUGH 27 WERE HOSPITALIZED FOR A W IDE VARIETY OF INJURIES. STORY OPERATIONS OFFICE. EMPLOYEE #20 DROVE A 1982, MODEL 437, INTERNATIONAL TR UCK, PULLING A 1982 AZTEC FLATBED, INTO THE GARAGE AREA OF THE BUILDING. THE FLA TBED HAD A 1,000 GALLON PROPANE TANK CHAINED ONTO IT. EMPLOYEE #1 WAS ATTACHING DECALS TO THE SIDE OF THE TANK TO MEET DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION REGULATIONS. EMPLOYEE #20 WAS REMOVING FOUR BOLTS AT THE END OF THE TANK TO CHECK ON A A POS SIBLY DEFECTIVE LIQUID LEVEL GAUGE. EMPLOYEE #20 DIDN'T REALIZE THE GAUGE WAS A FLOAT GAUGE, AND THAT REMOVING IT WOULD RELEASE THE PROPANE. THE GAUGE WAS REMOV ED, RELEASING PROPANE FROM THE TANK INTO THE LOWER LEVEL OF THE BUILDING. A SPAC

Victims (27)

#1 Fatality Age 55 M

Nature of injury
5

Part of body
19

Event type
12

Source
35

Occupation code
999

Human factor
11

Environmental factor
11

Hazardous substance
2150

Task assigned
1
#10 Fatality Age 34 F

Nature of injury
5

Part of body
19

Event type
12

Source
35

Occupation code
999

Human factor
11

Environmental factor
11

Hazardous substance
2150

Task assigned
1
#11 Fatality Age 24 F

Nature of injury
5

Part of body
19

Event type
12

Source
35

Occupation code
999

Human factor
11

Environmental factor
11

Hazardous substance
2150

Task assigned
1
#12 Fatality Age 33 M

Nature of injury
5

Part of body
19

Event type
12

Source
35

Occupation code
999

Human factor
11

Environmental factor
11

Hazardous substance
2150

Task assigned
1
#13 Hospitalized Age 42 M

Nature of injury
12

Part of body
3

Event type
1

Source
35

Occupation code
999

Human factor
11

Environmental factor
5

Hazardous substance
2150

Task assigned
1
#14 Hospitalized Age 29 M

Nature of injury
12

Part of body
3

Event type
1

Source
35

Occupation code
999

Human factor
11

Environmental factor
5

Hazardous substance
2150

Task assigned
1
#15 Hospitalized Age 47 M

Nature of injury
9

Part of body
21

Event type
1

Source
35

Occupation code
999

Human factor
11

Environmental factor
6

Hazardous substance
2150

Task assigned
1
#16 Hospitalized Age 23 M

Nature of injury
2

Part of body
28

Event type
1

Source
35

Occupation code
999

Human factor
11

Environmental factor
6

Hazardous substance
2150

Task assigned
1
#17 Hospitalized Age 51 M

Nature of injury
12

Part of body
14

Event type
1

Source
35

Occupation code
999

Human factor
11

Environmental factor
6

Hazardous substance
2150

Task assigned
1
#18 Hospitalized Age 47 M

Nature of injury
5

Part of body
3

Event type
1

Source
35

Occupation code
999

Human factor
11

Environmental factor
5

Hazardous substance
2150

Task assigned
1
#19 Hospitalized Age 67 M

Nature of injury
12

Part of body
3

Event type
1

Source
35

Occupation code
999

Human factor
11

Environmental factor
6

Hazardous substance
2150

Task assigned
1
#2 Fatality Age 53 M

Nature of injury
5

Part of body
19

Event type
12

Source
35

Occupation code
999

Human factor
11

Environmental factor
11

Hazardous substance
2150

Task assigned
1
#20 Hospitalized Age 54 M

Nature of injury
5

Part of body
9

Event type
1

Source
35

Occupation code
999

Human factor
11

Environmental factor
5

Hazardous substance
2150

Task assigned
1
#21 Hospitalized Age 42 M

Nature of injury
12

Part of body
7

Event type
1

Source
35

Occupation code
999

Human factor
11

Environmental factor
6

Hazardous substance
2150

Task assigned
1
#22 Hospitalized Age 22 F

Nature of injury
6

Part of body
13

Event type
1

Source
35

Occupation code
999

Human factor
11

Environmental factor
6

Hazardous substance
2150

Task assigned
1
#23 Hospitalized Age 41 M

Nature of injury
9

Part of body
21

Event type
1

Source
35

Occupation code
999

Human factor
11

Environmental factor
5

Hazardous substance
2150

Task assigned
1
#24 Hospitalized Age 26 M

Nature of injury
3

Part of body
21

Event type
1

Source
35

Occupation code
999

Human factor
11

Environmental factor
6

Hazardous substance
2150

Task assigned
1
#25 Hospitalized Age 25 M

Nature of injury
3

Part of body
19

Event type
1

Source
35

Occupation code
999

Human factor
11

Environmental factor
5

Hazardous substance
2150

Task assigned
1
#26 Hospitalized Age 51 M

Nature of injury
3

Part of body
19

Event type
1

Source
35

Occupation code
999

Human factor
11

Environmental factor
5

Hazardous substance
2150

Task assigned
1
#27 Hospitalized Age 62 M

Nature of injury
7

Part of body
13

Event type
1

Source
35

Occupation code
999

Human factor
11

Environmental factor
5

Hazardous substance
2150

Task assigned
1
#3 Fatality Age 45 M

Nature of injury
5

Part of body
19

Event type
12

Source
35

Occupation code
999

Human factor
11

Environmental factor
11

Hazardous substance
2150

Task assigned
1
#4 Fatality Age 38 F

Nature of injury
5

Part of body
19

Event type
12

Source
35

Occupation code
999

Human factor
11

Environmental factor
11

Hazardous substance
2150

Task assigned
1
#5 Fatality Age 36 M

Nature of injury
5

Part of body
19

Event type
12

Source
35

Occupation code
999

Human factor
11

Environmental factor
11

Hazardous substance
2150

Task assigned
1
#6 Fatality Age 33 M

Nature of injury
5

Part of body
19

Event type
12

Source
35

Occupation code
999

Human factor
11

Environmental factor
11

Hazardous substance
2150

Task assigned
1
#7 Fatality Age 29 M

Nature of injury
5

Part of body
19

Event type
12

Source
35

Occupation code
999

Human factor
11

Environmental factor
11

Hazardous substance
2150

Task assigned
1
#8 Fatality Age 54 M

Nature of injury
5

Part of body
19

Event type
12

Source
35

Occupation code
999

Human factor
11

Environmental factor
11

Hazardous substance
2150

Task assigned
1
#9 Fatality Age 23 F

Nature of injury
5

Part of body
19

Event type
12

Source
35

Occupation code
999

Human factor
11

Environmental factor
11

Hazardous substance
2150

Task assigned
1

Codes shown verbatim from OSHA's accident-investigation database. A human-readable decoder is coming in a future release once the accident_lookup2 dictionary is loaded.