Two men burned in tank explosion

By Becky Shay of Montana Lee Newspapers - 03/17/2005

BILLINGS — Two Shepherd men were burned Wednesday when a diesel tank exploded in a welding accident.

Joe Mayes was welding a diesel tank when the tank exploded, his sons Matthew and Michael said. Mayes was taken by air ambulance to St. Vincent Healthcare. Mayes' son-in-law, George Richards, had his hands burned and was taken to the hospital by American Medical Response.

Neither man was listed as a patient at Billings hospitals Wednesday evening.

Yellowstone County Sheriff's Deputy Frank Fritz said deputies' initial observations are that the fire was accidental.

The family owns Mayes Drilling and was working near their home on Drury Lane when the fire was reported around 3 p.m. Richards is also a captain with the Shepherd Volunteer Fire Department, which responded to the fire.

Matthew Mayes said his dad was doing routine maintenance on the tank when it ignited. There was some fuel in the tank while the men were welding on it, Fritz said.

Michael Mayes said he took his coat off to try to smother the flames on his father's clothes. Next they grabbed a hose and tried to douse the fire.

‘‘I was getting my dad taken care of first,'' Matthew Mayes said. ‘‘Then it was save what we could.''

The brothers were among the group of people who helped wheel Joe Mayes on a gurney from the family home and transfer him into the helicopter.

The fire also burned a crew cab pickup that was outfitted for portable welding. The tank, apparently still burning, was moved away from the welding truck.

The blaze appeared to burn hottest on the truck, where it gutted the interior and melted the dual tires. The fire extended to a nearby shed, which Shepherd volunteer firefighters later peeled the metal siding off of to completely extinguish. The fire left a charred skeleton of a snowmobile and all-terrain vehicle and spread into some grass and several feel of a nearby irrigation ditch.

— Becky Shay writes for The Billings Gazette.