'Over 400 hectares [burned]': Arrogant supervisor pushes his railroad workers to bend the rules on safety protocols; starts a raging wildfire, then gets justly fired for negligence

Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor

Sep 9, 2023 7:00 AM EDT

Some people just want to watch the world burn. But when you're the one guy who's only job is to prevent destruction from consuming the job site, that's exactly what you're trying to avoid. For some supervisors, especially the arrogant kind with a 'i-can-do-no-wrong' attitude, being the safety guy at a construction site doesn't actually mean anything. They just want to trot around, puff their chest, and tell everyone what to do– even if it's the wrong call.

In this case, one hot-headed supervisor took his power-tirade way too far when the job was getting a little behind schedule. Of course, we're all familiar with deadlines and getting work done in a timely fashion, but many of his employees were starting to wonder if safety was an appropriate price to pay to achieve speed. With corporate breathing down his neck and senseless confidence flowing in his veins, the supervisor decided to cut corners on deconstruction protocols, taking huge risks to shave a few hours off of his crew's completion time. But was it worth burning down the entire countryside? You tell me.

For the full story of total destruction and a completely justified job termination, keep scrolling. After this, read about some more OSHA violations with this collection of every industry's 'dirty little secret'.