Massive Lemoore blast: Why was there gas in water tank before deadly explosion?

Monday’s massive water tank explosion in Lemoore, which killed one person and injured another, came as officials were putting finishing touches on a water quality project intended to bring the city into state compliance, City Manager Nathan Olson said Thursday.

It has not been determined why the explosion, which sent the 1.5 million gallon tank 70 feet in the air, took place. But Olson said it appeared some type of gas ignited as welder Dion Jones, 41, of Filanc Construction, was working on the project. Jones died and a city worker was injured in the blast.

Cal/OSHA is investigating the accident, but the work has just started.

Said Olson: “I can’t talk about what the welder did or didn’t do. That’s part of their investigation, but (the tank) definitely had some type of gas buildup.”

Olson added that city officials are now monitoring a nearby tank, but have not discovered any gas in that structure, although it held “the same water from the same well.”

He added that the blast took place as workers were doing “cleanup,” the “little things at the end of a project.”

In the case of the water tank, that included removing an eight-inch pipe that was no longer needed.

Work to bring water quality into state compliance began in 2019.

Omar Rodea, president of Escondido-based Filanc Construction, said he could not comment on the accident because the investigation was under way.

“We’re all trying to figure out what happened,” he said. “We are extremely devastated by the loss of our employee.”

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration web site notes that there have been multiple accidents and fatalities related to work on water tanks in recent years, including a worker killed in 2020 at the iconic Fresno State water tower. Initial information on that death was that 27-year-old Jason Peters of Palm Coast, Florida, succumbed to heat exhaustion.