A tragic incident occurred on Friday evening, June 7th, resulting in the death of a man who fell into a chemical tanker truck while cleaning it.
The accident took place around 5 p.m. at the Two Rivers Terminal agriculture fertilizer plant on Glade Road in rural Franklin County, Washington.
According to Apple Valley News, 56-year-old Viktor Voloshin was hosing off the top of a tanker truck when he apparently fell into the tank. His coworkers lost track of him and later found him face-up at the bottom of the tanker. Security camera footage shows that he was last seen at 4:15 p.m., standing on a ladder while cleaning the trailer.
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When first responders arrived, they found the air inside the tanker to be fairly toxic. It remains unclear whether Voloshin died from the toxic gases or from the fall itself.
“It was a 70% sulfur solution, commonly used in agriculture crop production, but it off-gasses into hydrogen sulfide. These gases can be hazardous, making the atmosphere dangerous over a period of 15 to 30 minutes. We did a quick monitor with our gas detection equipment,” said Franklin County Fire District 3 Chief Mike Harris.
Voloshin, reportedly the father of 12 children, was deeply mourned by his family and community. No further information on the incident has been released.