University of California burn unit home to oil explosion victim

A man received emergency transport to the University of California earlier this month after he was injured in an explosion at the oil refinery where he worked. Although the young man was placed in the capable hands of the staff at the Davis Burn Center, it will likely be a difficult road for the 24-year-old man with burn injuries so severe that he was reported to be in critical condition.

The oil explosion occurred in our neighboring state of Nevada at the Bango refining plant near Fallon. At approximately 9:15 in the morning on Monday, Dec. 9, the incident was reported to the local emergency responders. There was no doubt as to the authenticity of the report. “You could see the black smoke from out of town,” said Churchill County Sheriff Ben Trotter.

Although the source of ignition was still under investigation, it was determined that an oil storage tanker had caught fire. Emergency responders knew that the single worker’s injuries were so severe that they required immediate air transport. The status of the other 14 employees was not listed in the report, but they were all accounted for.

This explosion may not have come as a surprise to the residents that lived near the refinery. According to the news report, the plant’s residential neighbors had made multiple complaints in the past.

These concerns involved more than neighborhood nuisance complaints. In 2007, the refinery was shut down shortly after an inspection by government officials. Then, only five years later, the Occupational Safety Health Administration cited the refinery for six violations.

Source: Inquisitr, “Bango Oil Explosion: 24-Year-Old Man Critically Burned At Refinery With History of Problems,” Dec. 10, 2013