Worker Killed When Tire Explodes : Sylmar: The force of the blast hurls the rim through the roof of the shop where the man was employed.

A welder was killed in Sylmar on Monday when the flame he was applying to a metal tire rim caused an attached tire to explode, fire and police officials said.

The explosion separated the metal rim from the tire with such force that the steel ring decapitated the worker, shot through the roof of the welding shop and landed outside on San Fernando Road, authorities said. No other injuries were reported.

The incident occurred about 12:30 p.m. at Mena’s Iron Works, 12430 San Fernando Road. The dead man was identified as Ramon Carranza, 45, of Pacoima, authorities said.

A spokesman for the state Department of Industrial Relations, which includes the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, said the business--also known as Mena’s Wrought Iron Works--has no record of safety violations.

Cal/OSHA inspectors were dispatched to the welding shop Monday afternoon, a routine procedure after any serious or fatal industrial accident, public information officer Rick Rice said. It was unclear why the worker was welding the rim.

Rice declined to comment further until safety engineers complete their investigation.

Although Rice said he could find no specific regulations governing welding near inflated tires, police and fire officials said common sense dictates the removal of inflated tires from wheels exposed to open flame.

The welder’s torch not only heated the metal rim the man was trying to repair but also caused the air inside the tire to expand until its rubber casing burst, Los Angeles Police Lt. David E. Baca said.

“He should have removed the tire from the rim; it would have precluded this accident,” Baca said.

Baca and a Fire Department spokesman, Pat Marek, said it was unclear whether the 16 1/2-inch wheel the welder was working on was for a truck or a motor home.

In recent weeks, two private consumer groups have criticized the tire industry for failing to eliminate the potentially fatal risk of exploding light-truck tires, particularly in cases where 16-inch tires are inflated to attach to 16 1/2-inch rims.

The Washington-based groups--Public Citizen and the Institute for Injury Reduction--said during a press conference Friday that exploding truck tires have hurt or killed 2,000 to 3,000 people in the last 20 years, prompting more than 250 lawsuits. The groups also claimed that the industry has failed to adequately reinforce 16-inch tires despite numerous explosions during inflation.

Firestone, a Bridgestone Tire subsidiary that was singled out by the groups, said accidents occur only when mechanics ignore “longstanding and well-known tire industry safety rules.”