Employee burned in Edmond company explosion dies of burns

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ An employee died after suffering burns in a series of explosions at an Edmond construction company, officials said Friday. <br/><br/>Daniel Littrell, 42, was flown by helicopter to

Saturday, March 26th 2005, 12:40 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ An employee died after suffering burns in a series of explosions at an Edmond construction company, officials said Friday.

Daniel Littrell, 42, was flown by helicopter to Integris Baptist Medical Center after the Thursday afternoon explosion at Duit Construction Co. He died later of complications from the burns, state medical examiner spokesman Kevin Rowland said.

Fuel vapors inside a 100-gallon diesel fuel tank Littrell was welding were set off when his welder's torch cut through it and caused a blast, said Ed Chappell, state fire marshal's office operations chief.

Tanks filled with propane, oxygen and acetylene in the building caused two more explosions, Duit human resources manager Lee Tyner said.

The tank Littrell was working on was not cleaned of flammable materials, Occupational Safety and Health Administration area director Jim Brown said.

``Clearly, if one is to be welding, regulations require the materials to be welded, be cleaned and purged of flammable materials,'' Brown said.

OSHA will be looking at who was responsible for the possible violations, he said.

Two other employees, one 37 and the other 18, were taken by ambulance to Mercy Health Center and the University of Oklahoma Medical Center, respectively, with smoke inhalation, EMSA spokeswoman Jennifer James said.

Woodcrest Fire Department Lt. Lynn Standish was released from Deaconess Hospital, where he was taken after collapsing from fatigue at the scene.

The names of the other injured employees were not released by the state fire marshal's office or Duit Construction.

Chappell said they would not release the names until an official report had been filed.