December 2, 1977
Today is December 2nd. When I see this date, I am taken back to Mont Belvieu, Texas. It was evening, after 6pm. We were pressuring up the ethylene dehydrators on Well # 4 with ethylene after we had purged the system with nitrogen. There was Frank Finster (the boss), Keith, and our new Assistant Supervisor, Jim Gotcher onsite that evening. (My apologies if I misspelled Jim's last name.) I had just made rounds and Frank sent me in the office to watch the board as the guys were changing towers, pressuring up the ethylene. Suddenly there was a large blast, the reflection of the fire could be seen on the wall of the building, then all was dark except the fire on Well 4.
I remember running out the door of the building and calling for Frank. When I found him, he sent me back in the building to call 911. Keith was not with them. I called 911 and asked for an ambulance as directed. I went back outside and there was Keith, lying on the ground with nothing on but his belt, arms and legs contracted. His clothes were burned off of him. He was talking. I heard Frank tell someone that we had lost a man, which was crazy, because we were all accounted for. Keith had burns over 90% of his body.
He died the next morning. Keith was 23 and had two children and a wife. His little girl was 5 years old, I believe, and his little boy was maybe 2. Keith's birthday was December the 5th. He didn't live to see his 24th birthday.
RIP, Keith.
From the Baytown Sun:
Keith Francis, a 23-year-old father of two, died of injuries received in an explosion and fire at the Exxon Pipeline Terminal here Dec. 2. The Dayton man was reportedly the first person to be killed in an industrial accident in recent memory in the Mont Belvieu area . A company spokesman said Francis and two olher men were standing near an elhylene dryer when the device exploded. The blast threw the other two men clear while Francis was enveloped in the fireball. He was rushed lo San Jacinto Methodist Hospital, where doctors labored for nearly an hour in a vain effort to save his life. He was then taken by helicoptei lo John Sealy Hospital in Galveslon, where he died the next morning. The company spokesman said a preliminary investigation showed the explosion was ca ed by "equipment failure." He said a line in the dryer burst under pressure and added the reason for the ruplure would not be known until the piece of pipe undergoes metallurgical tests. Those lesls have not been completed
