My Truck Blew it's Top

In 1965 I worked for a trucking company called W.S. Hatch Co. This company was a transporter of liquid and dry bulk commodities throughout the Western United States. As a driver for that company one of the jobs I did was to operate a “Distributor.” A distributor is a truck with an apparatus attacked to the back of the truck that distributes hot specialized oil through a spreader bar on to the road surface that binds asphalt or fine gravel to it. If you have seen the movie “Cool Hand Luke” you'll remember an episode where a tank truck sprayed hot oil on the road and the men then scattered sand over the oil to resurface the road. The truck that sprayed the oil is called a “Distributor.” After loading the tank at an oil refinery and going to the job site, it is necessary in preparing to spread or “shoot” the oil to gradually heat the spreader bar to prevent it from cracking open with the sudden impact of the hot oil that is, sometimes, 1500 degrees Fahrenheit or more. A gradual introduction of oil in to the bar is required and the oil is circulated through the spreader bar and then back into the tank increasing the flow as the bar warms up. When the spreader bar is hot, it is time to shoot the oil. On one occasion after I had worked for the company for some time and was made a Driver Supervisor,I was sent to instruct and help a new spreader operator on his first job. The job location was near Elberta, UT, 20 or so miles west of Payson, UT. I followed the truck in my company car and when we arrived at the job site, men from the Utah Highway Dept. were there to do their jobs. We proceeded to do the drill as I indicated above but unbeknownst to us, this particular distributor truck had been used the day before to shoot another type of oil and had been cleaned with high pressure steam but had not been dried out. Water was left in the spreader bar and when that water circulated back into the tank of hot oil, there was an explosion of steam and oil that literally blew the dome lid open and sprayed the hot oil all over everyone within 25 feet of the truck. I, along with a State Road worker and the spreader operator had the hot oil sprayed on us. The state guy was wearing a T shirt and no cap. I was not wearing a cap but had a short sleeved shirt open at the neck as did the spreader operator. The state guy got the worst of it with hot oil over his head, shoulders, arms and back. The spreader operator jot some on his arms and shoulders. I had oil on my head, shoulders, back and arms. We all got into my car and headed for the hospital emergency in Payson. When all was said and done, the state guy wound up in the hospital for a stay with 2nd and 3rd degree burns over 50% of his body. When the ER staff started to clean me up the only places I was burned was on my arms and the top of my head. My upper arms, shoulders and back though covered with the hot oil were not burned in the least. Essentially, I was protected where my Temple Garments covered my body. The ER staff noticed this too and one nurse commented about it. That to me was a real testimony builder.