By Julie Poppen, Rocky Mountain News
June 27, 2007
Two teens were smoking as they jumped atop an oil tank in Routt National Forest just before it exploded, the Rio Blanco County undersheriff said Tuesday.

Investigators are looking at the possibility that cigarettes or ashes ignited vapors, Undersheriff Michael Joos said.

Other possibilities include sparks from a campfire 30 feet away or even static electricity.

"Some poor judgments were made," Joos said. "They (went) to an area they shouldn't have been at to jump up and down on an oil tank."

But assigning a cause to the freak accident is of little consolation to residents of the small south Routt County towns where residents are grieving the deaths of Samuel Hedemark, 17, and Christopher Fuller, 19.

Fuller, of Yampa, and Hedemark, of Phippsburg, had joined teens and young adults partying in National Forest Service land across a Forest Service road from Chapman Reservoir.

Many were current or past students at Soroco High School in Oak Creek. The district, with only 410 students, is a tightknit community, said Dina Murray, the district's business manager.

"The reports are that about 20 kids were in attendance at this party that witnessed these boys in an explosion," Murray said. "That's pretty traumatic."

Joos said authorities are learning that the site 20 miles southwest of Oak Creek was a popular party spot.

About 10:15 p.m. Saturday, authorities received reports of a blast. They found the bodies of Fuller and Hedemark, who were thrown more than 400 feet. A dog on the tank also was killed.

Both had elevated blood alcohol levels, Rio Blanco County Coroner Randall -Cochran reported.

Both victims spent a good deal of time outdoors, relatives and friends told the Steamboat Pilot & Today.

"That boy really went through fishing poles," Kathleen Foos, Hedemark's mother, told the paper.

Brandon Ager said his friend, Fuller, "was a real good guy that just liked to hunt, fish and hike with his dogs."

Between 32,000 and 40,000 oil and gas tanks are on public and private lands in Colorado, said Bureau of Land Management spokesman Jim Sample.

The tank that exploded was partially filled with 160 barrels of crude oil.

It was not fenced off but did have warning and no-trespassing signs on it, Joos said.

A release valve on the top of the tank prevents vapors from building up. Investigators believe that the motion of the young men jumping caused vapors to escape.

Joos said a third young man was on the tank and got off just before the blast, which blew the top portion of the tank 100 yards and knocked partygoers to the ground.

Investigators have not yet interviewed all the witnesses. Charges could be filed against those in attendance as well as against the person who provided alcohol.

Prosecutors visited the site Sunday, Joos said.

Tricia Beaver, spokeswoman for the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, said in her 23 years with the agency she's never heard of such an accident.

Beaver said environmental tests are being conducted but noted that most of the oil either burned off or collected in an area designed for that purpose.

"It's just a really unfortunate situation that occurred," she said.

A joint memorial service is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday at the Yampa cemetery, along Colorado 131 between Yampa and Phippsburg.