Explosion Rocks My Marina Town.

Stripermann2 · Post by **Stripermann2** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 9:27 am

Colonial Beach, Va is where we keep our boat. It's a small town where we have enjoyed our boating for the past 14 years or so. We know many folks who we call friends. My brother and his wife also live there and keep their boat next to ours.

There is a small coffee shop which for the past five years has made a big impact in town. The owners, Julie and her husband Jeff worked hard to make it a success. I would go in just about every Sunday morning for coffee and morning treats to bring back to my sleeping wife on the boat to enjoy.

The coffee shop used to be an old Esso (Exxon) gas station. Jeff was rebuilding the patio out front to accomodate springtime customers. On Monday, they needed to remove the old fuel tanks buried in the ground for the past 30 years.
The tanks still had enough fumes in them and during the removal, a spark blew him more than 75 feet into the air and 100 feet away. He was medivac'd to Richmond but did not survive. A very sad story for all involved.

Great people who made life wonderful for those they touched.
You never know when your time is up. Cherish each day!

http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0310/7 ... =newsstory

ready123 · Post by **ready123** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 9:56 am

WOW sad story... was there no regulation to force this hazardous removal to be done by knowledgeable professionals??

Stripermann2 · Post by **Stripermann2** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 10:13 am

ready123 wrote:WOW sad story... was there no regulation to force this hazardous removal to be done by knowledgeable professionals??

You know, good point. The investigation continues. I suppose these regs get by small sleepy towns? Can't speculate as I don't know. Perhaps they did have the green light for the work...

larglo · Post by **larglo** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 10:14 am

I truly do cherish each day. At my age and health, I hate to see a single day go by, that I don't try and do something worth while!

We had a 38 yr old man drown in Percy Priest Lake yesterday, very near where we have our slip.

There were three men in a boat fishing, and the boat sank for what reason they did not say. Two of the men swam to shore but the third man drowned. I would have to assume he wasn't wearing a life jacket?

Larry

Second Mate · Post by **Second Mate** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 10:20 am

So sorry for your loss.

Exactly why I'm nervous about removing & replacing the fuel tanks in my tri-cabin despite knowing I'm having fuel related problems.

I've heard the best method is to fill the tanks with soap bubbles to displace any fumes. Can anyone confirm this?

Stripermann2 · Post by **Stripermann2** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 10:23 am

You can fill them with dry ice, diesel fuel too, to expell any gas fumes. I'm sure there are other ways as well...

pk · Post by pk » Thu Mar 25, 2010 1:12 pm

What about filling in water....? I do so when welding on old petrol tanks. Never a problem.

LSP · Post by **LSP** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 4:43 pm

A truly said story Jamie. An accident like this is tough on those family members and friends remaining to carry on.

rossjo · Post by **rossjo** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 9:40 pm

Who cares about "regulations". The man was taking care of his biz, and probably barely making it ... sorry to see this happen. Sorry for his family's loss ...

captainmaniac · Post by **captainmaniac** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 10:19 pm

Rossjo - was that a joke or do I read it right, that you actually consider it to be a silly nuisance to insist on people being properly trained and qualified to deal with hazardous materials? Do you really believe that as long as it will save you a few bucks, doing it on the cheap is better than safe?
Someone tried to do something dangerous that perhaps they didn't understand well enough, and died because of it. The only good thing in this is that nobody else got killed too. Learn something from it.

rossjo · Post by **rossjo** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 10:32 pm

No, my point is that it was tragic that he died. There are millions of regulations about everything we do, but they didn't save him in the end.

He was probably struggling to make ends meet, and died in the process.

Tragic.

Rossjo Out.