Few details have been released about a Lower Burrell steel plant explosion that killed a Tarentum man.
Brennan Sites, chief of Lower Burrell No. 3 Fire Company, confirmed a steel-processing furnace was the source of the explosion.
Daniel R. Vakulick, 20, died from injuries sustained in the blast just before noon Wednesday.
Two others were injured, one critically. The identities of the other victims have not been released.
Sites also said the department’s deputy chief was on scene less than a minute after the explosion and did not see any flames.
“Most of those steel buildings … there’s not normal combustible things that could possibly catch fire,” Sites said.
The lack of a fire is why, Sites said, his department is not formally handling the investigation.
Instead, Lower Burrell police and the Pittsburgh office of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration are leading the probe.
Lower Burrell police Chief John Marhefka has not returned requests for comment since the explosion and was not available when a TribLive reporter visited the police station Thursday.
An OSHA spokesperson said Thursday the organization has up to six months to investigate the incident and issue citations but did not share any early findings.
Braeburn’s parent company, Oil City-based Electralloy, has said it’s cooperating with authorities, but has not offered details on the incident, either.
The unwelcome presence of water is a common cause of explosions in certain furnaces, according to Chris Pistorius, co-director of the Center for Iron and Steelmaking Research at Carnegie Mellon University.
Pistorius also noted the freezing temperatures that have gripped Western Pennsylvania over the last few weeks raise the possibility that ice could attach to materials entering machinery and generate a steam explosion.
Nearly 400 manufacturing workers died on the job in 2023, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which does not specifically track steel manufacturing as a category.
No other recent deaths are attributable to the Braeburn plant. A worker did, however, sue the company in 2021 after suffering “numerous injuries” when part of a 2,500-ton hydraulic press became over-pressurized and exploded.
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The lawsuit, which eventually was withdrawn, alleged Braeburn failed to provide crucial information about the incident to the worker, preventing him from making an informed decision on whether to pursue legal action against anyone who built or maintained the hydraulic press.
News of Vakulick’s death spread across social media sites by Wednesday evening, though authorities didn’t confirm it until Thursday afternoon.
Authorities have not provided any updates on the condition of the other critically injured person or a third person who was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Although he lived in Tarentum at the time of his death, Vakulick was a longtime resident of Buffalo Township and 2023 graduate of Freeport Area High School. He transferred there during his freshman or sophomore year from the Kiski Area School District, according to friend Gabi Franchock.
Vakulick, a car enthusiast, was known for his purple Dodge Charger Scat Pack, according to Franchock and social media posts from those who knew him.
“He would always talk about the cars he was looking to get, or ask if you wanted to go on a drive with him,” Franchock said.
His black Dodge pickup remained near the Braeburn plant as of around noon Friday and had become a memorial of sorts.
Visitors left flowers atop the truck’s hood and drew messages into the road salt coating its doors.
One note on the passenger door reads: “Mommy loves you lil’ Dan.”
Funeral arrangements are being handled by Duster Funeral and Cremation Services, 347 E. 10th Ave. in Tarentum.
Visitation is scheduled from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Monday. Services will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday, followed by a private burial.