Sunday, 30 January 2000 FLORA VISTA , N.M. (AP)
A GAS tank explosion that killed one teen-ager and critically injured another was apparently caused when one of the boys threw a cigarette lighter into the 12,000-gallon tank, police said.
Shiloh Gallegos, 16, was killed in the explosion, and 15-year-old Christopher Gillaspy suffered burns to 25 to 30 percent of his body, said a spokesman for University Hospital in Albuquerque.
Sheriff's Sgt. Scott Eckstein said it appears the boys were playing atop the tank and one of them threw a lighter into it, causing it to explode at 5:30 p.m Saturday. The tank was about one-third full with a fuel known as "drip gas," a liquid form of natural gas, investigators said.
"It ignited and the lid was blown off," Eckstein said. "The victim was thrown about 90 feet. The other victim tore off his burning shirt and ran for help. I don't know what they were doing up there."
Eckstein said it appears that Gillaspy was not standing directly on the lid when it blew.
The blast shook the northwestern New Mexico home of Leona and Dalton King.
"All I saw was the tank on fire," said King. "It was melting that tank. It was pretty red."
Eckstein said there was no fence surrounding the tank, but he did see warning signs stating it was a hard hat area.