Authorities say a man is dead after the industrial tire he was installing at a Decatur, Ala., service center exploded.
Lynn Mann, a spokeswoman for TCI Tire Commercial Service Center, says 50-year-old Joseph Andrew Sparks died Saturday afternoon. Police say the tire rim blew up, hitting Sparks in the chest and knocking him into a crane boom.
Police said he died on the scene. The death has been ruled accidental.
TCI is headquartered in Duncan, S.C. Mann said Sparks had been with the company for six years.
She said the company spends `” lot of time on training and safety” and called the accident an “unfortunate” tragedy.
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