OSHA says 3 men killed in Thanksgiving Tower fire were using torch to repair water tank

[TexasTowelie]

The three workers who died in a fire under Thanksgiving Tower on Thursday were using a torch to repair a 30-foot-deep water tank, according to federal authorities.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said in a statement Friday that the men were Texas HVAC employees whom Best Mechanical Inc. hired to clean four water tanks in the lower levels of the tower.

The storage tank they were working in — part of the building’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning system — caught fire as the workers used a torch to cut away its rusted and corroded components, according to the OSHA statement.

-snip-

But Dallas Fire-Rescue Assistant Fire Chief Ted Padgett said Best Mechanical hasn’t had a valid permit to welding or cutting since December 2009. He also said Thanksgiving Tower’s permit for welding, cutting and hot work expired in March.

Read more: http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2014/12/osha-says-3-men-who-died-in-fire-under-thanksgiving-tower-were-using-torch-to-cut-through-water-tank.html/

[malokvale77]

1. We are going to see a lot more of this kind of tragedy...

under the incoming administration.