1 Dies, 2 Hurt in Pacoima Blast at Drilling Site

A refinery maintenance worker was killed, and two other men were injured Wednesday when an explosion erupted in an oil tank they were cleaning at a Chevron drilling site in Pacoima, officials said.

The 10:45 a.m. blast at 14201 Paxton St. occurred when the three men began cleaning the 25-foot-long tank used to separate water from oil, officials said.

The cause of the explosion was under investigation Wednesday by the Los Angeles City Fire Department and the federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration, officials said.

The name of the 27-year-old Chevron worker killed in the blast was not released. The two injured men, Dan Wilkins and Frank Ramirez, were employed by the Nieto vacuum truck company, a Chevron contractor, Chevron spokesman Rod Spackman said. Both men were taken to Holy Cross Hospital, where Ramirez was treated and released and Wilkins was admitted for treatment of burns, officials said.

At the time of the explosion, the plant was out of service for maintenance, Spackman said. It will remain shut until the investigation of the accident is completed, he said.