Cattle Rustling Sting Conducted By Sheriff's Dept. An oil tank is sprayed down following an explosion Wednesday morning, June 30 that killed two men and severely burned another.
Details are still unclear about how the explosion occurred.
The men were reportedly independent contractors hired to patch leaks in crude oil storage tanks in an area less than a mile north of Livingston just off of Haney Judd Road. They had reportedly finished repairing one tank the previous day. The tank flew approximately 40 feet from where it had stood, with the bottom of the tank separated from the main hull. Natural gas, a by-product of crude oil, is believed to have built up in the tank and a spark from some source is believed to have ignited it, causing the explosion. According to reports, Rob Schoettle of the Overton County Sheriff's Department arrived on the scene and met Kelly Jack Daniels, burned on more than 65 percent of his body, walking toward him.