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Two Tech Workers Killed in Steam Line Explosion
The Roanoke Times, Aug 6, 1981 By Doug Waters and Brian O'Neal
Blacksburg - Two Virginia Tech employees were killed and another was injured Wednesday morning in an explosion in one of the tunnels in the Tech steam heating system. One of the men apparently entered the tunnel after after the explosion occurred and died in an attempt to save his co-workers, said Ken Haines, Tech information director. Tech officials believe these are the first job-related deaths in the history of the university. The cause of the explosion is under investigation. The dead men were identified as Warren M. Broce, 63, power plant superintendent, and Ronald "Packie" Lucas, 46, a plumbing supervisor who worked in the universities mechanical maintenance department. A Montgomery County Hospital spokesman said that they died of steam inhalation and burns. Broce had worked at Tech 46 years and would have retired within a year, said Charles Debusk, assistant director for the physical plant. The injured man, Robert L. Dellinger, 25, was listed in satisfactory condition at Montgomery County Hospital. Dellinger, a Blacksburg resident, has worked at Tech for two years. Broce was from Blacksburg and Lucas, who had worked at Tech for 14 years, lived in Pembroke. A low-pressure steam line exploded at 9:20 a.m., only 10 minutes before the men were scheduled to leave the tunnel and take a 15-minute break, said one plant worker who asked not to be identified. Debusk said he did not know why the men were in the tunnel, but but said it was routine for workers to enter it occasionally. Tech officials, who first thought all three men were in the tunnel together, now believe Lucas ran out of the power plant after the explosion and climbed down a manhole in front of Tech's security building, which sits in front of the power plant. He apparently was trying to make his was to his two co-workers and was overcome by steam and heat before he could get out. Haines said the power plant entrance to the steam tunnel was blocked by broken pipe, so Lucas had to use the manhole entrance outside. Dellinger and Lucas were carried from the tunnel minutes after the explosion and taken to Montgomery County Hospital. Lucas was pronounced dead on arrival, a hospital spokesman said. Emergency crews from the Blacksburg fire and rescue departments and the Virginia Tech Rescue Squad worked about 30 minutes to recover Broce's body, said Jerry Olinger, captain of the Blacksburg Rescue Squad. Debusk said Broce was only a few feet from the power plant entrance but apparently was blocked from escaping. Rescue crews, using oxygen tanks, had to enter the steam tunnel through the manhole through which Lucas had crawled to his death. When the pipe broke, the tunnel filled with dense steam, raising the temperature to 200 degrees or more, Olinger said. At the time of the explosion, Randy Shifflett, a Tech history professor, was on the fifth floor of McBryde Hall, which overlooks the power plant. "I looked out the window right away and you could see steam coming out of the vents along the street so thick that you could hardly see the intersection," Shifflett said. "It blew the manhole cover off the intersection here." Debusk said the power plant was shut down Tuesday and will remain down for most of today until the pipes can be repaired. The Tech campus will be without hot water while the plant is down. Haines said the plant received moderate damage, but one worker described the inside of the building as a "real mess," with several pipes ruptured. University officials were meeting Wednesday night with insurance inspectors. Because the campus also relies on steam tunnel for heat, Debusk said, the problem would have been much worse if it were winter.
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