Training May Have Been Factor In Fatal Oilfield Fire

The 36-year-old Gillette man who died in October following an explosion and fire at an oil field site in Campbell County was a recent hire to the company with limited training, according to the Wyoming Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s preliminary narrative of events.

The state OSHA employees are still investigating the incident, but the fatal alert — a summary of initial facts and findings — notes a more formal training program and a reevaluation of the oil field site’s hazards for workers may be necessary for the employer. Significant factors in the fatality and recommendations from the state could change in the final report.

Beau Damori had worked for JCG LLC, the company that holds the permit for the disposal facility north of Gillette, for less than two weeks when the explosion occurred. He was working on the site on Oct. 31 with two roustabouts who were employed by the oil field services firm Tisdale Creek Ranch Inc. The three men had drawn water from a containment pit into a truck and were then emptying the water into a brining building — part of the process prior to injecting salty oil field water underground — according to the fatal alert.

Damori left the brining building, saying that he needed to check the heater treater unit. The other two men did not later recall what specifically Damori had gone to fix, but within two minutes of him leaving, they heard an explosion, according to the fatal alert.

The fatal alert notes that limited training for Damori might have been a “significant factor” in the event.

Source: Gilette News Record