Zalee Gail Day-Smith was a talkative, smart 14-year-old from a rural corner of southwest Louisiana who dreamed of going to Harvard University, becoming a lawyer and a judge, and one day making the criminal justice system fairer for more people, her father said.
But Day-Smith's dreams were abruptly snuffed out in a tragic explosion and fire on Feb. 28 at an oil tank battery a few hundred feet from her mom's house in the Ragley community between DeRidder and Lake Charles.
State Police investigators believe Day-Smith frequently hung out on the Urban Oil and Gas tank battery. She was on top of the first tank that exploded on Feb. 28, throwing her into the air and killing her, a report says.'
Her death prompted the state Office of Conservation to propose rules that would require tank batteries close to homes, schools, churches and roads to have security fencing, warning signs and other protective measures to keep people from getting onto the flammable, hazardous equipment.
https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/article_38fb4798-df74-11eb-9fec-2b2282381f3a.html