Valve Blamed in Restaurant Blast : Safety: El Torito is fined $5,000 for not maintaining water tank. A bartender was killed and five others were hurt.

State officials blamed El Torito Restaurants for a missing valve on a water storage tank they believe was responsible for an explosion that ripped through a restaurant in early August, killing a worker.

In issuing a citation and imposing a $5,000 fine against the company, investigators also said they believe the potential for similar accidents exists at schools, other restaurants, machine shops, dry cleaners and other businesses that use such equipment.

State officials soon will release a hazard alert to notify inspectors, insurance investigators and possibly restaurants about potential dangers of improper tank equipment, said John Lemire, head engineer of a section of the state Department of Industrial Relations’ division of Occupational Safety and Health.

The explosion rocked the Fashion Island restaurant less than half an hour before hundreds of customers were expected for Sunday brunch at the Southwestern-style eatery Aug. 1, killing bartender Antonio De Santiago, 39, and injuring five others.

The blast caved in a corner of the restaurant, shook nearby buildings and hurled concrete chunks dozens of yards away.

State officials said a relief valve that costs from $8 to $25 would have allowed pressure to escape from the tank--which was connected to a water heater--when it overheated that morning in a storage room. But without the valve, pressure mounted until the tank exploded with a force of up to 50,000 pounds, state officials said.

“This is a serious violation,” said Jim Brown, Orange County district manager of the California Occupational Safety Hazard Administration.

Officials from El Torito Restaurants denied Cal/OSHA’s findings Wednesday.

“I am shocked that Cal/OSHA would release this conclusion so prematurely before the Newport Beach Fire Department completes its own investigation,” said Russ Bendel, executive vice president of El Torito Restaurants.

Newport Beach fire officials refused to comment on the case until an investigation is finished.

Bendel maintained that the 115-gallon tank had a pressure valve and that the equipment was inspected June 18 by its Orange-based maintenance company, Debin & Associates. Officials from the maintenance company and the tank’s manufacturer, Raypak Inc. of Westlake Village, did not return telephone calls seeking comment Wednesday.

In addition to a missing valve, the water tank was not manufactured with a seal ensuring that it met worldwide safety standards set by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and did not have state approval.

Since the explosion, inspectors have looked at three other El Torito Restaurants in Anaheim, Orange and Newport Beach, finding substandard conditions with 21-gallon tanks at each restaurant.