Gas Tank Blast Kills Teens

Amazing--something as simple as a 10ft. tall fence and/or some flammable gas warning signs could have prevented death.

clipped from www.cnn.com Devon Byrd, 16, and Wade White, 18, were killed when a natural gas tank at a well production site exploded last fall in Carnes, in southern Mississippi. Local teenagers said the site is a popular hangout because it's quiet and secluded. But the dead teens' parents say the explosion could have been prevented if some warning signs had been posted -- "something simple as fences, gates and signs, probably very inexpensive, and certainly a lot less expensive that what a child's life is worth," said White's father, Phillip. Police say they don't know exactly what ignited flammable vapors inside the tank. When it exploded, the teenagers were killed instantly. Their bodies were found about 40 yards from the tank's base; the tank landed another 20 yards from them. Investigators say they found a lighter, but don't know whether it was involved. "He may be in compliance," Forrest County Sheriff Billy McGee told CNN. "But there's nothing in the rules for him to be in compliance with."