ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – A charge of culpable negligence has been dismissed against the trucker in a BP gas station explosion in 2011 who was accused of letting the underground tank be over-filled.
Litigation from the explosion is still ongoing, though.
Recommended Videos
The state of Florida is suing 61-year-old David Cowles, who was burned in the explosion in St. Augustine.
Cowles was initially charged with culpable negligence when he removed himself from the pump and fuel tanker he was driving, the state attorney's office said.
The Aug. 19, 2011, explosion sent a ball of fire 75 feet into the air and the resulting fire took dozens of firefighters three hours to put out.
Cowles received burns to his arms as he crawled away from the blast. Cowles spent weeks at the burn unit at UF Health in Gainesville. Cowles' attorney says the fuel company is at fault and filed suit against Coomes Oil and Supply, asking for damages in excess of $15,000.
Cowles was working as a driver for Florida Rock and Tank Lines, delivering about 8,800 gallons of gasoline to a BP station affiliated with Coomes Oil.
Court documents said Cowles knew a potential overflow hazard existed, but began to offload the gasoline into the above-ground storage tanks at the gas station. Prosecutors initially said he "deliberately disregarded, apparently for his own comfort, his prior training, his company's published safety policies and nationally accepted safety codes," and walked away from the truck.
While Cowles was away from the controls, an overflow of gasoline in fact occurred, the documents stated, causing a fire "which ultimately completely destroyed six fuel storage tanks ranging from 10,000 to 18,000 gallons in capacity, three buildings, 13 vehicles and damaged a 14th." Total property damage estimates exceed $1 million.