Worker falls 40 feet to his death while cleaning fuel spill

Tuesday, Sept. 16, 1997 | 6:18 a.m.

About a dozen workers with the Clark County Fire Department climbed atop the tank to rescue the man, who fell about 9 a.m. at the Cal-Neva Tank Farm.

The man, whose name was not released pending notification of relatives, is a Los Angeles resident.

The rescue workers had to be decontaminated after going inside the tank, which had about six inches of fuel at the bottom, said fire department spokesman Steve La-Sky.

The man's body was soaked in gasoline when rescuers pulled him out.

"He complained he was feeling poorly and was climbing out," La-Sky said. "He had taken his oxygen off to climb out. He was two or three rungs from the top of the ladder when he fell. It's about a 40-foot drop."

The worker arrived in town Monday and began work Tuesday morning with a partner to clean up a gasoline spill from a week ago at Cal-Neva, La-Sky said.

It took rescuers about an hour to remove the body.

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