LITTLE ROCK — An explosion at an abandoned oil tank site west of El Dorado killed three employees of Long Brothers Oil Co. on Monday, a Union County Emergency Management official said.
The company owns the site in an area northwest of El Dorado, near Mount Holly Road in Union County, but its headquarters is eight miles north in Norphlet.
Union County Emergency Management Director Jerry Thomas and Union Coroner Curtis Butterfield said the names of the employees killed Monday aren’t being released, and that their bodies will be sent to the state Crime Laboratory for identification.
The three workers were in the process of dismantling the tank when vapors inside ignited, causing a “massive explosion and fire,” Thomas said.
The tanks haven’t held oil for several years, but “there were enough vapors inside to ignite them,” he said.
The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, Thomas said.
No one else was present at the site at the time of the explosion.
The explosion happened at 3:30 p.m., and although the oil tank fire had been extinguished as of 5:30 p.m., a forest fire sparked by the explosion still smoldered nearby, Thomas said.
“The Arkansas Forestry Commission has dug a fire line, and they have it under control,” he said.
The blast prompted several emergency service agencies to respond, including the Union County Emergency Management agency, the Union County sheriff’s office, the El Dorado Fire Department, the Norphlet Fire Department, the Cairo Fire Department, and the Arkansas Forestry Commission. A group from the Lion Oil pipeline department also responded.
“It’s always a tragedy when you have loss of life,” said Union County Judge Mike Loftin, who oversees Union County Emergency Management. “Our thoughts right now are certainly with the family of those killed. I did not know them personally but I feel their loss and send my best to their families.”
Arkansas, Pages 7 on 05/22/2012