Officials at the scene off of Joel Shaw Road near New London said the explosion occurred around 1:30 a.m., when the couple climbed on top of the old storage tank and lit a cigarette. The tank, which was empty, holds 1,000 barrels of oil. Officials of MC Productions, the company which owns the tank, said even though the tank was empty, the residual fumes under certain weather conditions can become highly explosive. Area residents said they were awakened this morning by the sound of the explosion and their houses shaking.

Oil company officials are still on the scene cleaning up and assessing the damage to the site. One official said it was too early to put a dollar amount on the damage. Rusk County Sheriff Danny Pirtle has confirmed the explosion claimed the woman's life, but he did not release names.

New London, Overton, Carlisle and Kilgore fire departments all responded to the blast, which also touched off a small wood fire. The male victim has been flown to LSU Hospital in Shreveport, where he is being treated at the burn center. No additional information is available at this time about his condition.

TylerPaper.com will post additional details as they become available.

Updated Monday, April 26, 2010 at 10:05 a.m. CDT

Submitted on 04/27/2010

Submitted by: Anonymous
Reference: Tyler Morning Telegraph

Copyright © 2010 DarwinAwards.com

Bruce said:
Definitely Toss: Too Common
Thanks, but we get lots of stories involving cigarettes or other open flames and fuel tanks of all sorts. This is almost virtually identical to a DA we received a couple years ago: http://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin2007-06.html

Candi said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
Gas cans and fuel tanks are one thing, but a massive oil tank...I say this is monumently and fantastically stupid!.

Shadow said:
Definitely Toss: Too Common
we have had massive oil trucks to, I agree with Bruce, too common on this.

James said:
Definitely Toss: Lacks Excellence
Aside from it being too common, I don't see any indication of egregious stupidity. My guess is that the victims thought the tank to be long abandoned...!

Kenneth said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
When I was with darwin awards back in '02 we had a story of two teenage boys doing off fireworks from the top of a large tank like this one. We should definitely run this one as it may discourage at risk survivors from repeating this tragedy. (Mostly because I prefer them to be more creative!)

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