Blacksmith killed when tractor tyre he was inflating explodes in his face

[Stock]

A blacksmith has been killed after a tractor tyre he was inflating exploded in his face.
Arwyn Rees, 35, was using a high pressure hose when the tyre suddenly burst sending a loud bang 'like a bomb going off' across the small village of Pumsaint, near Carmarthen, West Wales.
His two nephews heard the explosion and went running to the village forge where they found Mr Rees unconscious.

Tragedy: Arwyn Rees was taken to hospital following the explosion at Thomas Rees & Son in Pumsaint, Carmarthenshire, but later died

After calling 999 their uncle was flown by air ambulance to hospital but he died several hours later.
The freak accident happened at Thomas Rees and Son, a firm of metal workers and welders in the village.

Jan Watkins, of a nearby caravan site said: 'We all heard an almighty explosion, it sounded like a bomb going off.
'There was an aftershock and everything. We rushed outside and saw the helicopter and emergency crews.
'It was a rear tractor tyre and they can be lethal. It's an incredibly tragic accident and everyone in the village is very upset.'
Mr Rees had won awards in the All Wales Truck and Transport Show and was very popular in the tiny village.
Villager Eiry Griffiths said: 'It's such a small community and this is an incredibly tragic loss which we we are all hugely upset about.'

Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue service confirmed two fire crews were sent to the scene.

A spokesman said: 'We were called to an incident following a tyre explosion, which occurred while a man was operating machinery.
'We liaised with paramedics before the casualty was taken to hospital via air ambulance.'

Dyfed-Powys Police confirmed they had launched an investigation alongside the Health and Safety Executive.
'No other persons are involved and the scene does not present a danger to other members of the public,' the spokesman said.

'The deceased's family have been informed and trained police family liaison officers have been deployed to support them.'
Swansea's coroners officer Howard Davies added: 'I can confirm that a death has been reported but a post mortem is yet to be taking place.'

[Muz]

I came across this article on another forum and someone posted the link to the following video which has some relevance to the incident.. I have to say .. I had no idea about how dangerous this activity was. I assume heat generation yes.. but not to this level, the vid is an eye opener.

[ianoz]

Thanks both of you guys for these posts . Certainly will make me think safety next time i am mucking about with tyres .

[Wazza]

I have heard of people getting killed seating a Tyre on the beads before but I thought if you were welding and had the valve removed it would be safe ,obviously not .....
22 hours is a long time to wait ,struth who would have guessed that ..

[Dan]

That vid is frightening to watch who'd have thought a small bit of welding could create so much heat and extra pressure ?

So was he heating/welding the rim then ? was that the cause of the incident ?

[Muz]

So was he heating/welding the rim then ?

I've kept an eye on the forum in which I first saw the incident reported, and whilst it is possible, there is no conclusion as yet.

A neighbour of mine regularly has to weld JCB rims, as they run it high pressures, and before the SRS system was introduced, hitting a drain lid or raised obstruction at speed was a sure fire way of damaging a rim, where the bead part seperates from the flat section next to the dish.

I can see how tempting it would be to carry out works to a rim, without the hassle of taking the tyre off .. and Ive repaired plenty of rims before now , but never in such as way as the vid demonstrates.

It certainly gets the message home how dangerous .. AND undetectable the problem can be.

And this is what these forums,.. and all forums, are useful for .. to help people learn how to avoid this sort of tradgedy.


Heating anything within a confined volume is always risky, I found this out to my cost once when straightening a hydraulic pipe ... as a young inexperienced lad, I was lucky to avoid being blinded for life, as a jet of burning oil missed the side of my head by an inch or so, as it travelled 20 feet across the workshop floor .. on fire.. but thats another story