San Diego

Santee resident John Goik, severely burned Friday when chemicals he was handling exploded at a Scripps Ranch manufacturing plant, died early Tuesday at UC San Diego Medical Center, a hospital spokeswoman said. Goik, 29, was burned over 95% of his body from the chemicals, used in making water purification systems at Fluid Systems, a division of UOP Inc., which is a subsidiary of The Signal Cos. Two dozen other workers and firefighters suffered minor eye and respiratory irritations from the chemicals. A task force of city, county and state fire and hazardous materials departments’ officials has been formed to determine the cause of the accident. San Diego City Fire Marshal Wesley B. Kilcrease said Tuesday that the task force will be maintained permanently to investigate incidents involving hazardous materials.