Quickly he put his overalls and boots on and hurried of to the designated area.

On the grating lay a two and a half inch steel jigsaw pipe, spewing intermittent oil and gas out of its moveable connections. It was the first flow of oil being piped to an oil barge moored down below, beside the steel piles of the oil platform. The oil well had been closed but the erratic movements of the conduit showed that the oil in the pipes still extruded gas. There was only one way to stop the leaking in the joints and that was to weld them solid.

He realized that it was a dangerous job he was asked to do and for a fleeting moment considered the only options available to him.

1] Weld the leaking joints of the jigsaw pipe and risk himself to get burned.

2] Quit his job on the oil rig and ship out with the first flight of the helicopter servicing the platform.

He quickly made his mind up and ordered the men around him to get the tools he needed for welding. Turning to the Tool Pusher, the Almighty Man beside God on any oil rig, he said that he could not guarantee his welding to be oil-tight.

The Tool Pusher nodded his head. The boilermaker/welder went on that a welding like this had not been done before. The Tool Pusher smiled one of his rare smiles and slapped a hand on the boiler makers shoulder.

"I be right beside you!"

The boilermaker gave a grim smile, from now on the Tool Pusher was his side kick and responsible for his health. When the men came back with his welding gear, fire hoses and a fire extinguisher he instructed them when and how to use it.

After the men had cleared the grid of the waxy crude oil with their powerful hoses the boilermaker/welder laid himself down beside the first joint to be welded. At the first strike of the arc the gas coming out of the leaking joint ignited.

Immediately his welding arm, encased in the heave leather of the long gloves, was engulfed in flames. When he finished the welding pass around the pipe he came up to a crouch and held his arm up into the air. On that sign the men directed their hoses onto him, drenching him and the job from top to bottom.

They followed the same procedures on the next five faulty connections in the jig-saw line. The job had taken so far an hour to do and he had nearly finished the second pass on the last weld when he felt a movement in the pipe he was welding on. In the same time a shrill, high pitched sound filled his ears. Then a whooshing resonance hit him and he felt a searing heat over his whole body. He knew that the pressurized gas, leaking from a hole in the last joint, had ignited.  Rolling away from his position pipe he felt two strong fingered hands around his ankles and he felt himself unceremoniously dragged away from his job over the grating on the walkway.

Shaking his head he removed his welding shield from his face. The glare of flames in front of him and the noise of the escaping gas diminished. Strong hands let go of his legs and a cascade of water cooled him of. Looking up he saw the eyes of the tool Pusher down on him.

The boilermaker shook his head and yelled, "I have to fix that last hole yet!"

The Tool Pusher yelled back at him, "You want me to drag you back?"

Dripping wet from the douching he stood up and checked himself over. His overall was ruined. Black holes everywhere on one side of his body and he could see red and black ragged skin through the cloth.

He went back to his welding spot and looked at the joint of the pipe. Where he had ended the weld a four millimeter hole had appeared but only a little oil leaked out of it. He grabbed his welding lead and after putting a new welding rod into the handle proceeded to close the hole with a patch of hot metal.

The job was finished. He put his tools on the side and went to the Tool Pushers office. The radio operator, acting as the first aid man, applied bandages the side of his body and legs which showed third degree burns and smeared a yellow jelly onto the lighter burns.

They talked about the possible causes of the gas build up in the pipe and came to the conclusion that the oil in it had suddenly released its gas when it came in contact with the hot area of the pipe he was welding on. After it had been put down in a report the boilermaker/welder went, exhausted, back to bed.

The next morning he was ordered to get of the platform by the Tool Pusher who told him not to come back till his burns had healed. With a smile he added that he was on full pay at the platform rates during the time he was off work.

Brain Candy E-Zine has no rights to this story.  The rights belong to the author.

[ Back to Contents Page ]