News

Court fines U-Haul Co. of Pennsylvania $1 million fine over fatal 2014 food truck blast

May 8, 2019

A federal judge ordered the U-Haul Co. of Pennsylvania to pay a $1 million fine and serve two years' probation due to a fatal July 2014 food truck explosion, according to WHYY, a public media outlet in the Philadelphia region.

Olga Galdamez and her 17-year-old daughter, Jaylin, were killed when a propane tank on the La Paradilla Chapina food truck exploded near Third Street and Wyoming Avenue in North Philadelphia. The explosion also injured about a dozen others. 

U-Haul Co. of Pennsylvania, a rental and moving company, was indicted for having untrained employees fill propane tanks, a violation of federal hazardous materials regulations. Galdamez was a customer at the Hunting Park location. 

The court did not charge U-Haul in the fatality.

Employees allegedly overfilled the tanks, leaving no room for the gas to expand inside the steel containers on a hot summer day. 

In addition to the $1 million fine, the company agreed to comply with federal regulations, introduce a propane compliance program, keep records of the propane tanks' fills, and prevent uncertified employees from filling tanks.  

Miguel Rivera, the former general manager at the store, received two years' probation on Monday.

The hearings were a little less than a year after the company settled a lawsuit with victims of the blast. 

The company will pay a combined $160 million to two individuals who were severely injured, and to Galdamez' family. The settlement includes an additional, undisclosed sum, described as the largest pretrial settlement in the state court's history.