Boiler Blamed for Fatal Explosion at El Torito : Accident: Pressure buildup in a water heater led to blast, Newport officials say. Restaurant will pay for bartender’s funeral.

An exploding water heater caused the deadly disaster at a Fashion Island restaurant that killed one and injured five other employees Sunday morning, fire officials determined Monday.

Because of an internal problem, the water in the 110-gallon boiler got too hot and turned to steam, which made the over-pressurized boiler explode and shoot through the roof of the utility room at the back of the El Torito Grill, Newport Beach Fire Battalion Chief Nick Waite said.

The blast also knocked out the walls of the utility room, severing a gas line and killing bartender Antonio De Santiago, 39, who was changing his clothes in the men’s locker room on the other side of the utility room wall.

“You’d be surprised that an explosion like that could occur without having dynamite,” Waite said after he and about a dozen other investigators from the city’s fire, police and building departments spent a day rummaging through the debris at the restaurant.

“But you get these things under pressure, and when they go, they’re awesome,” he said. “You know those pictures when a tornado hits? Things are kind of clean but there’s incredible busted-up stuff. . . . That’s what this looked like.”

The blast destroyed the utility room, storage areas for dry goods and liquor, and the men’s and women’s employee changing rooms. The dining room and bar areas remain unscathed, and the total damage to the restaurant was under $500,000, spokeswoman Lee Healy said.

De Santiago was killed by the exploding walls and scalding water, Waite said. The gas that leaked when the line ripped open endangered firefighters but did not ignite or cause additional damage to the building, he said.

Meanwhile, El Torito Restaurants Inc. of Irvine has arranged to pay for De Santiago’s funeral, set up trust funds for his two daughters, and pay the hospital bills for those who were injured in the blast.

The company will also give the five injured workers 30 days paid leave, while the restaurant’s 145 other employees will receive one week’s salary and be placed in neighboring restaurants for the four to six weeks until El Torito-Fashion Island reopens. All 25 employees who were on duty during the blast will also be offered psychological counseling, Healy said.

“We’re just so grateful that it didn’t happen during operating hours,” she said. “It’s too bad it didn’t happen in the middle of the night when no one was there, but that restaurant is so busy, the potential could have been a lot more tragic.”

Monday, the restaurant group gave De Santiago’s wife a $2,500 check for groceries and clothing, and made arrangements to fly his sister and bus 20 other relatives up from Tecate, Mexico, for the funeral. In addition, El Torito Restaurants Inc. has donated $10,000 to a trust fund for Eloisa, 14, and Mireya De Santiago, 11, and will match the next $10,000 that is donated.

De Santiago’s family also will receive about $150,000 in worker’s compensation and other benefits, Healy said.

“Whatever it is, we’re going to cover it,” Healy said of the expenses. The family “seem very grateful for the assistance we’re offering them. They’re coping as well as you can under the circumstances.”

A funeral Mass will be held Thursday at 10 a.m. at St. Anthony’s Church, 1450 E. La Palma Ave., Anaheim. Rosary will be recited at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Hilgenfeld Mortuary, 120 E. Broadway, Anaheim. Donations to the De Santiago Trust Fund should be sent care of El Torito Restaurants, 2450 White Road, Irvine, Calif., 92714, Attention: Lee Healy.

Though fire investigators confirmed Monday that the blast began in the boiler, the specific malfunction that caused it to explode has yet to be identified, Waite said. Fire officials sent dozens of valves and other parts from inside the boiler to a laboratory for testing to determine the problem, he said.

Newport Beach building and fire department officials said they had no record of problems at the restaurant, and Fashion Island General Manager Janice Fuchs called El Torito a “terrific” tenant.

Having replaced the Velvet Turtle in the Fashion Island site in 1986, El Torito has a 40-year lease with the mall. The Irvine Co., which owns Fashion Island, also has leased several other properties to El Torito Restaurants; a new outlet is scheduled to open in the Irvine Marketplace in November.

Deadly Blast Sunday’s disaster was caused by an exploding boiler shooting through the roof and knocking down walls, fire officials said Monday. Water in the boiler got too hot, turned to steam and then burst a vessel inside the 110-gallon heater. Owners say it will be four to six weeks before the restaurant reopens. LABELS Area destroyed Utility room: Server injured Water heater: Tank blasted through ceiling; heating unit exploded through men’s room wall Employee men’s room: Bartender killed while changing into uniform Employee women’s room Dry storage: Server injured Liquor storage Area damaged Ice machines: Waiter injured Walk-in cooler: Chef injured Office: Bookkeeper injured while sitting at her desk Dining room not damaged Source: El Torito Restaurants Inc.; Researched by CAROLINE LEMKE/Los Angeles Times