Two People Seriously Injured in Oil Tank Explosion in East Texas

Two people have been seriously injured when an oil storage tank exploded and caught fire this morning in Van Zandt County.

The Van Zandt County Fire Marshall reports both victims a 24-year-old female, and a 24-year-old male have been transported to Dallas Parkland Memorial Hospital. The female victim is on life support and the male victim is suffering from burns to his face, chest and arms.

Sheriff officials say both individuals were smoking on top of the storage tanks, when one of the tanks exploded.

Van Fire Department along with Grand Saline, Tyler Fire Department Haz Mat and Lindale Fire Department are either on scene or responding to the incident.  The incident is still an active scene on Highway 110, north of Van.

There is five large storage tanks, in which two had already exploded and was on fire.  Fire was impending on the other tanks and firefighters were using a foam blanket to attempt to prevent the other storage tanks from exploding and catching fire.

The names of the victims are being with held at this time due to notification of next of kin.  The Fire Marshal is working to identify which company owns the storage facility.  The victims are reported at this time not to be employees of the oil company responsible for the storage facility.

The Fire Marshal is being assisted by Van Police Department and the Van Zandt County Sheriff’s Office.