Water tank ‘explosion’ kills one worker, injures another near a Central Valley college
UPDATE: A day after a deadly explosion, the city declared a state of emergency. Officials identified the victim as 41-year-old Dion Jones. City employee Jeremy Climer was injured and later released from the hospital Monday evening. Lemoore City Manger Nathan Olson said at a press conference Tuesday that new regulations were implemented that includes no watering lawns, no washing down vehicles and concrete until further notice.
ORIGINAL STORY: A contractor died and a city worker was injured Monday afternoon in what was described as a “small explosion” of a water tank across from West Hills Community College in Lemoore.
The accident happened about 1:23 p.m. as four people — three contractors and a city employee — were working on the tank.
“As they went to start the tie-in, the tank failed,” Lemoore City Manager Nathan Olson said Monday night. “It appears we had a small explosion. The tank lifted off the pad ... (causing) the 1.5 million gallons of water to dump. We kind of had a big tsunami.”
The city employee was expected to be released from the hospital Monday night. The other contractors were not injured.
The name and age of the contractor who died was not released.
Residents may see a change in water pressure and color, Olson said, but no interruption in the supply was expected. The water is safe to drink, he said.
Classes at West Hills-Lemoore were canceled Monday and students told to stay away, but the college stated in a social media post that it would reopen Tuesday.
This story was originally published June 21, 2021 at 8:35 PM.
