Let It Burn
Around 13 years ago I worked in a Saskatchewan shale oil field. I was about 13 hours into my seven-day hitch. I wasn’t sleeping well because I was busy with personal things. I became complacent at some point. I’d done the same run over two years, and knew every tank and location by heart. I even knew which tanks were finicky and which ones would sand.
My parents were coming to see me to celebrate their anniversary. I was excited about my days off. My brain was out of my skull for only two seconds but it was enough to cause disaster. The hose I pulled off the valve before closing it. In Saskatchewan, the tanks are heated to separate oil and water.
So, I was soaked in 160-degree-water through a 4-inch hole on the tank’s side. The tank had been treated chemically with defoamer so that the burns are also chemical. I went to my local hospital and was given a prescription of Tylenol 3, as well as a note of sickness for four days. The hospital closer to my home (about an hours drive) told me that I would be off work for at least two weeks.
But I was lucky. I was left with a barely visible scar, and my life.
