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Gene Kennedy ReportingA 47-year-old man is clinging to life, badly burned after a fuel pipe burst in Tooele County. That accident happened at a hazardous waste disposal site.
The site is called Clean Harbors. It's in Aragonite, which is in Tooele County. The victim is now in the burn unit at the U of U Medical Center.
The injury was so bad they couldn't airlift the victim. The fumes from this severe burn would have filled the helicopter, so paramedics transported him by ambulance.
They brought him to the burn center around 1:00 this morning. The victim has third degree burns over 80-percent of his body.
While he was on the job at Clean Harbors last night, a fuel line broke, and what happened next is truly disturbing.
Sgt. Jeff Morgan, Tooele County Sheriff's Dept: "When the fuel line busted it saturated the back of his clothing and then ignited. He burned over 80 percent of his body."
According to the reports, the victim was completely engulfed in flames.
Safety officials don't know how the fuel line broke, but they're on site this morning to determine that.
Dansie's wife talked with Eyewitness News this afternoon.
Cathie Dansie, Victim's Wife: "Emotionally I'm in shock...I can't explain any emotion right now."
Cathie is just trying to hold out hope for his recovery.
Tom Dansie will have to go through 60 to 120 days of treatment at the U of U burn center.
Cathie Dansie, Victim's Wife: "He's my life. We have been married for 23 years. It will be 24 years this month, and he's my life. (reporter question: "It's going to be so hard to see him like this?") "Very hard, very hard."
Cathie Dansie saw her husband rolled off an ambulance just after one this morning. What you can't see are the third degree burns Tom Dansie's body.
Cathie Dansie, Victim's Wife: "He's on a ventilator. He is out, he's basically in a coma."
But amazingly alive, partly because a co-worker came to his rescue.
Cathie Dansie, Victim's Wife: "When he was on fire, his supervisor Brett Valdez actually took his coat off and put him out. He knocked the fire out with his own coat. (reporter question: "Do you think that saved your husband's life?") "That, and the fact that his face and chest probably didn't get burned."
Dansie's is holding out hope her husband will survive. But the treatment he'll receive could be as painful as the accident itself.
In the Meantime, Dansie can't understand why she heard the details of the accident on TV news first, and not from the company.
Cathie Dansie, Victim's Wife: "I had no idea he was sprayed with diesel fuel. I can't imagine anybody being sprayed by diesel fuel and not be upset that they were not told that, that it was put on the news before the family even found out."
KSL called "Clean Harbors" several times to talk about that. We also wanted to hear from the company how the fuel line broke in the first place, but so far, no response from the company.
The Sheriff's office says this is the first time it's responded to a safety problem at Clean Harbors. But all it took was one incident for this 47-year-old worker to suffer. He's in extremely critical condition.
O-S-H-A is investigating this accident.
