October 15, 2005

Worker injured in fire

       A construction worker at a new-home site in Greenwood was critically burned in an explosion after the vehicle he was driving accidentally ran over a gas line.  Hector Esquivel was taken to Wishard Memorial Hospital in Indianapolis with second-degree burns all over his body and was suffering from respiratory problems, Greenwood Fire Department Lt. Tom Kite said.  Paramedics did not know if his injuries were life-threatening but described the burns as very severe, Kite said.  A spokeswoman for Wishard said Esquivel was in the emergency room in critical condition about 8:15 p.m. Friday. Esquivel is expected to be moved to the hospital’s burn unit today.

         The explosion rocked the neighborhood about 3:45 p.m. Friday. It occurred at the site of a 152-home subdivision, Tuscany Village, being built just south of the Target store at Curry and Honey Creek roads.  Esquivel, an employee of Noblesville-based Weihe Construction, was driving a 62,000-pound industrial vehicle, one of his co-workers said.  The equipment resembles a tank and is designed to compact the soil and lay lime, Weihe employee Barney King said.  While driving along the edge of Honey Creek Road, the machine accidentally struck a Vectren gas line, Kite said.  Witnesses reported the man jumped from the machine as it erupted into flames and then exploded.

         Will Collier, a 14-year-old Greenwood Middle School student who lives in the Alden Place subdivision across the street from the construction site, saw the explosion from his second-floor bedroom window.  He was inside sitting on the bed when he heard the machine go by followed by the explosion.  Collier stood up and saw the man walking along side the area, pulling his shirt off, Collier said. Flames reaching as high as 10 feet engulfed the machine, eventually charring the exterior, he said.  His 17-year-old sister, Abby, was downstairs working on the computer at the time. She also heard the explosion.  “I thought he’d dropped something upstairs, but then a dark shadow came across the floor, and I saw the smoke outside,” she said. “He came downstairs and said there was an explosion.”  Paramedics arrived within minutes and helped the man into the ambulance, Will Collier said.

         Firefighters sprayed the machine with hoses for more than an hour after the explosion. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration was expected to investigate the incident, Kite said.  The victim’s co-worker, King, did not know how long he had been with the company. King was driving a bulldozer at the opposite end of the construction site when the explosion happened, he said.  Owner of the company, Robert Weihe, could not be reached for comment Friday evening.  (Reprinted with permission from the Daily Journal)

           
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