The Region : Jury Awards 2 Burn Victims $6 Million

A Compton Superior Court jury awarded $6 million to two former Long Beach residents who were badly burned in a 1979 industrial accident at the asphalt plant where they worked. Richard Whitmer, 35, and Stuart Stephens, 26, sued Owens-Corning Fiberglass, based in Toledo, Ohio, charging that the company failed to put a proper pressure-relief safety device in a 30,000-gallon tank used to refine oil into asphalt. The tank exploded July 2, 1979, and the two men were knocked down by a wave of molten asphalt, their attorney, Joseph Thielen, said. “They actually swam through it,” Thielen said. Each was burned over 40% of his body, Thielen said. The verdict came after a five-week trial before Judge Madge Watai. Whitmer and Stephens have moved to Antioch, near Sacramento, Thielen said.