14 Marines, 1 Sailor Injured From Gas Line Rupture: Report

CAMP PENDLETON, CA -- A September 2017 incident during a Camp Pendleton training that injured 14 Marines and one sailor was caused by a gas line explosion, according to a report made available to the media this week. The report is a result of an investigation by the 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion.

In September, the service members were injured during a combat readiness evaluation in the San Mateo area of the military base near Oceanside. An assault amphibious vehicle, which is used to transport Marines from sea to land, caught on fire. Three of the service members were in critical condition and five in serious condition, according to officials.

In a letter, E.M. Smith, commanding general of the 1st Marine Division, wrote that a "vehicle mishap" in June this year caused a ruptured gas line, which resulted in the September incident.

"The incident was not preventable," Smith wrote. "I spent a significant amount of time at the incident scene and at the hospitals with these personnel and their families. Based on this time spent I will offer some additional insights."

Smith went on to write that "it is clear that the Marines and Sailors participating in the training on 13 September 2017 could not have realistically prevented this incident. There were signs regarding the gas line, but those signs were not visible due to fading and the growth of brush around them. With that said, even if the signs had been clearly readable, the average person would interpret them to mean that no digging should occur in the vicinity of the gas line, but that driving in the area would be safe."

Smith also said the driver of the vehicle did not do anything wrong.

"When the vehicle became momentarily stuck, he applied more power to his engine to move the vehicle out of the ditch," Smith wrote. "There was nothing unsafe or unusual about this, and any experienced amtrack operator would have done the same."

His letter concludes with the fact that facial and hand injuries could have been "lessened if Marines had been wearing flame retardent clothing on those affected areas."

--Patch Editor Kristina Houck contributed to this report. Photo: AP Photo/Gregory Bull