A Texas father of four was left unrecognizable after suffering burns to almost 90 percent of his body following a massive diesel explosion at a California refinery.
On November 19, 2023, Jerome Serrano, 52, was caught at Marathon’s Renewable Fuels refinery in Martinez when boiling diesel shot through a protective steel pipe, causing a colossal, near-fatal explosion.
Jerome, who was working the cemetery that fateful evening, suffered burns to nearly 90 percent of his body, destroying most of his skin, along with the soft tissue of his ears, nose, eyes and genitals.
Now, over a year later, the Houston native relies on the care and support of his loved ones to help him eat, drink, exercise and go to the toilet.
The father-of-four was halfway through the dreaded church service when he received a call on his radio around midnight saying a nearby oven had overheated and his help was needed.
But just as he turned off the two faulty burners, the room exploded in a fiery inferno of flaming oil and molten metal.
As his body was engulfed by a relentless fire, Jerome miraculously managed to find his way to a door, running out of the blazing furnace, at the same time stripping off his flaming clothes.
He made it almost 80 meters before collapsing in the break room, grabbing whatever he could find to help cover his severely burned body, screaming for help, hoping someone would find him.
Jerome Serrano, a father of four from Texas, was left unrecognizable after suffering burns to nearly 90 percent of his body following a massive diesel explosion at a California refinery. Pictured: Jerome Serrano (left) with his eldest son before the devastating explosion
On November 19, 2023, Jerome Serrano (left), 52, was caught at Marathon’s Renewable Fuels refinery in Martinez when boiling diesel shot through a protective steel pipe, causing a colossal, near-fatal explosion. Pictured: Jerome Serrano with his second eldest son after the life-changing fire
Several hours passed before he was reunited with his wife of 33 years, Lisa Serrano, as doctors from the UC Davis Firefighters Burn Institute Regional Burn Center led her to his hospital room.
Jerome had taken the job at Marathon earlier that year after his former company, Chevron Phillips Chemical Co., laid him off due to a downsizing.
Since then, he had traveled from his home in Houston to the San Francisco Bay Area, where he would work at the refinery and care for his elderly parents before returning home to his wife and family.
When Lisa first saw him, her husband was unrecognizable. She said he was so mutilated that he looked more like “fried chicken” than the man she married.
“His smooth, olive skin was gone, replaced by bloated and pockmarked wounds that “looked like fried chicken,” she told the newspaper. San Francisco Chronicle.
He spent the next seven months in the UC Davis Burn Unit, battling sepsis, infections and heart attacks. Not to mention the psychological torture of having 90 percent of your body gruesomely seared off.
As part of his grueling treatment and recovery, Hawaiian-born Jerome had his eyelids sewn shut and a hole cut in his windpipe – so he could breathe.
But as resilient as his body was – healing as if he had the body of a twenty-year-old – Jerome’s burns were so extensive that parts of his fingers and thumbs had to be amputated.
‘I had no voice. “I couldn’t see, I could only listen,” he said of the start of his months-long stay in the hospital.
Jerome, who was working the cemetery that fateful evening, suffered burns to nearly 90 percent of his body, destroying most of his skin, along with the soft tissue of his ears, nose, eyes and genitals. In the photo: Jerome (right) with his four children and two grandchildren
He spent the next seven months in the UC Davis Burn Unit, battling sepsis, infections and heart attacks. Not to mention the psychological torture of having 90 percent of your body gruesomely seared off. Pictured: Jerome and his son Simeon at the UC Davis Firefighters Burn Institute Regional Burn Center
As they peeled off the old, burned skin to hopefully use it to help him grow healthier skin cells, doctors played soothing “ocean sounds” to help the Hawaiian native “relax.”
“I loved the ocean growing up,” Jerome said. “Now it triggers me in a bad way.”
His wife has since filed a lawsuit on her husband’s behalf, targeting Marathon Petroleum Corp. – the company allegedly responsible for Jerome’s life-changing injuries – for an undisclosed amount.
The lawsuit accuses Marathon of hiring a company that has “no prior experience designing, constructing or operating a renewable fuels facility” to do the work.
The lawsuit also alleges that the design of the equipment was defective and that the steel pipe that ruptured was 33 percent thinner than required by industry standards.
According to court records, the suit filed in March of this year is now in settlement talks, the Chronicle reported.
However, in its report to the province, Marathon said the investigation found the pipe failed “due to short-term overheating under pressurized conditions” and found no “nonconformances” with industry standards, such as the thickness of the pipe walls . found.
Since then, the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration has recognized that regulations governing the handling of hazardous chemicals are riddled with “substantial weaknesses and omissions.”
The standards board then voted — unanimously — to change the state’s worker protection rules — a change that officials say could last until mid-2025.
However, board members did not say whether they believed these regulations, if they had been in place, would have prevented the fire.
Now, over a year later, the Houston native relies on the care and support of his loved ones to help him eat, drink, exercise and go to the toilet. In the photo: Jerome before the accident
Marathon Petroleum Corp’s refinery in Martinez, California
With the help of his family, Jerome moves closer to a more ‘normal’ life, as he learns to bend his elbows and sit for ‘longer’ periods.
“I can’t pretend it’s not hard,” he said. But: ‘I’m blessed because I’m still alive. God has been good.”
His wife, who has been his primary caregiver since his devastating accident, pushes him to find new purpose almost every day.
“This is just the shell,” she said, gesturing to her own body. ‘It’s the soul that matters.’
The family has since set up a GoFundMe page to help cover the rising costs of his care, most of which is covered by California’s workers’ compensation program.