A 40-year-old Ponderay Newsprint Co. worker is in critical condition after he fell into a tank of hot water last week.

Monty Ralph, who has worked at the Usk, Wash., company for a year, suffered second- and third-degree burns over 95 percent of his body. He was transferred from Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane to the burn unit at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

The mechanical maintenance technician was standing on a metal grating over the hot process water on May 4. He and four other technicians were preparing to pull a pump from the tank for routine maintenance, said Tom Garrett, the company’s human resources manager.

The metal plank slipped off its beam supports and Ralph fell 12 feet into the boiling water. A coworker climbed down a ladder and helped Ralph out of the tank.

Garrett said the workers quickly removed Ralph’s clothes and rinsed him with cold water. An emergency medical technician who works at the company also helped stabilize the victim until paramedics arrived.

Ralph is expected to remain in critical condition for at least three more weeks. Officials with the Department of Labor and Industry are investigating the accident, Garrett said.