Industrial Fires & Explosions page 2

Industrial Fires & Explosions Page #2

This page was last updated on  05/06/2010

Mechanic saves co-worker, business 
By David Rogers Friday, January 31, 2003
A gas station attendant escaped serious injury Monday afternoon when the station’s alert co-worker helped him extinguish flames that had covered his arms. James Chalouv of Amesbury received minor burns and was transported to Anna Jaques Hospital in Newburyport after his clothing caught on fire as a result of an accidental gas spill. Chalouv and Gaby Daaboul were replacing the gas tank of a Ford Taurus station wagon inside the Getty gas station garage on Route 110 when a hanging car lamp fell to the ground, bursting the bulb. The heat caused gas fumes to ignite. In the commotion, the pair knocked into the overhanging gas tank, sloshing gasoline onto Chalouv’s arms. The gasoline then ignited, Fire Chief Bill Shute said. Daaboul said while Chalouv rushed outside to find a patch of snow, he took the gas tank and brought it outside. He then went over to help his friend put out the fire on his arms. After the fact, Daaboul was reluctant to take credit for his bravery. “It’s no big deal, you just got to save your job,” Daaboul said. Shute said Daaboul’s quick thinking not only may have prevented more serious burns but also might have saved the business. “(There was) potential for a disaster, a lot worse,” Shute said. “The gentleman could have been burned more severely if he (Daaboul) hadn’t been that quick.” The fire had been completely extinguished before fire rescue units arrived. 

Reilly Acid Fire Suppressed Quickly
Hazmat crews from Wayne Township and Indianapolis Fire Departments are on the scene of a chemical fire on the west side. A vapor leak in an acetaldehyde pipe line caused the two-alarm fire at Reilly Industries. No one was injured and the water soluble acid never posed a danger to the public. Reilly workers suppressed the fire in about 15 minutes. The acid is used in the company’s manufacturing process of various chemicals. Plant manager Mike Mohler says the line has been shut down as investigators try to find out what caused the leak. 

UPDATE State proposes fine for BP well explosion 
By Associated Press Friday, January 31, 2003 – ANCHORAGE 
State safety officials have proposed a $6,300 fine against BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. for a North Slope well explosion that critically injured an oil field worker last August. The notice given to BP this week accuses BP of violating the state’s general worker safety law. BP failed to protect employees from the explosion of a well with abnormally high pressure, did not ensure procedures were followed to prevent excess pressure in the well, and did not ensure that employees understood procedures to control pressure hazards, the state said. The violation and fine are alleged at this point, said John Stallone, acting chief of the Alaska Occupational Safety and Health section. The violation won’t be affirmed until BP either pays the fine or reaches a settlement with the safety agency, Stallone said. BP spokesman Daren Beaudo said Thursday that BP hadn’t decided yet what to do. “We had a set of procedures for a period of 25 years that worked well. We found out through this accident that they weren’t perfect and we needed to beef them up,” Beaudo said. The explosion at well A-22 hit BP worker Don Shugak as he was about to enter the metal well house early on the morning of Aug. 16. He suffered burns and broken bones and spent three months in a Seattle hospital. Reached at his Anchorage home Thursday, Shugak declined to comment on the state’s allegations, but said his recovery is going well. Stallone said his agency concluded that BP had not committed a willful violation, which could have resulted in criminal charges or stiffer fine. So it proposed fining BP the maximum $7,000 for what is classified in regulations as a “serious” violation, minus $700 for BP’s not having had any other serious violations in the prior three years. The safety agency also is requiring that BP take costly measures to prevent another explosion. Beaudo said BP has spent millions to investigate the accident and changed procedures and training. 

UDPATE Petro-Can CEO Sees Refinery Repaired in 10-14 Days 
30 Jan 03(5:11 PM) 
CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) – Petro-Canada’s refinery in Oakville, Ontario, which was crippled by a fire this week, should be repaired in 10-14 days, the company’s chief executive said on Thursday. The 90,000 barrel a day plant, located west of Toronto, is running at half capacity after the blaze on Tuesday forced the company to shut down one of two crude units. Chief executive Ron Brenneman told analysts in a conference call it appeared the fire was caused by the rupture of a pipe that spilled naphtha and was limited to a small area, damaging mostly electrical wiring. Staff were arranging alternative petroleum product supplies until the plant is repaired, Brenneman said. 

Trapped miner rescued, four die
The miner who was trapped in a refuge chamber in Gold Field’s Driefontein mine following a fire there yesterday has been rescued. Mine spokesman Willie Jacobsz said today that rescue workers retrieved the man from the chamber at about 6.15am. He had been trapped there since Thursday. Jacobsz confirmed that four people were killed and three suffered smoke inhalation after thick, black smoke engulfed the upper levels of Shaft 7 West at about 11am on Thursday, prompting the immediate evacuation of more than 750 miners. Some 564 people surfaced immediately after the evacuation order was given, while another 136 went to specially-equipped refuge chambers and were brought to safety at around 4pm. The fire was still being extinguished and the shaft had been closed for production for the unforeseeable future, Jacobsz said. “There is no indicator, as this stage, as to the cause of the fire,” he added. There is no estimation as to the amount of production lost as a result of the fire. The Driefontein mine contributes 1.7 million ounces to the group’s total annual bullion production of over four million ounces. Jacobsz said none of the mineworkers had been brunt or exposed to flames because the fire was not raging in the part of the mine where the people worked. “The problem is not flames but smoke. The fire is actually in a remote part of the mine, far away from where the people are. The smoke is what caused the death of these people,” he said. Meanwhile, the trade union Solidarity offered its condolences to the families of the deceased on Friday and said it would ask Energy and Minerals Minister Phumzil Mlambo-Ngcuka to declare a day of honour for the “unsung heroes of the mining industry”. “Rescue teams worked through the night and put their own lives at risk to try to rescue their fellow miners. They worked in harsh and dangerous situations. All of them at Driefontein were treated for dangerous gas and smoke inhalations,” said Dirk Hermann, Solidarity spokesman. “The media and public forget about these unsung heroes in the mining industry. We hope that through a day of honour we can crown the unsung heroes as the real heroes of the mining industry,” said Hermann. 

UPDATE N.C. Probe Targets Dust in Factory Blast 
By EMERY P. DALESIO Associated Press Writer 
KINSTON, N.C. (AP)–The deadly fire that erupted at a medical-supply factory could have started with dust generated in the rubber-making process, federal investigators said. The theory by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board came Thursday as rubber fires continued to burn amid the remains of the West Pharmaceutical Services plant. Investigators said Friday dust explosions are not uncommon, but that dust alone couldn’t have led to the enormous blast. “Dust by itself by itself doesn’t have any spark in it. We’re looking for a source of ignition,” Charles Jeffress, a spokesman for the chemical safety board, said Friday. “When dust gets suspended in the air, some dust is more explosive than others.” He noted the plant has been making rubber safely for years. “We can’t speculate at all,” Jeffress said. The investigation is hampered by the fire still burning in one corner of the multistory building and the unstable remnants of the plant that exploded into flames Wednesday. Three people were killed and 15 remained hospitalized Friday, 10 of them in critical condition. One person who had been unaccounted-for was located Thursday. The building, opened in 1975, employed 255 people making rubber parts for medical equipment, such as syringe plungers. The rubber-making process, known as polyisoprene, produces “significant quantities of dust” that could have formed a combustible cloud, the investigation board said Thursday in a news release. The blast shot flames and debris high into the air and shook buildings miles away, and the building was stripped to its steel girders. “We are worried at this time that it will collapse,” said Chief Deral Raynor, the fire official in charge of the scene. Investigators were waiting Friday for cranes to lift the steel beams that, along with debris, hindered firefighters’ ability to extinguish the fire. The dozens of inspectors have been working on the perimeter of the site until the building is made safe. Investigators also planned to interview at least 35 plant workers and others; they interviewed 140 people Thursday. Taylor estimated damage to the building at $150 million. Though some officials dismissed the idea the blast was due to a criminal act, ATF agent Earl Woodham said investigators will research that possibility until they rule it out. “Any time you have a fatality and explosion combined, the ATF gets very interested,” Woodham said. Funeral homes identified the three dead workers as Faye Wilkins, 50; William Gray, 51; and James Byrd, 60. The first rescue workers on the scene said they were amazed more people weren’t killed. “I was looking for 30 to 40 people to be dead,” said Tommy Howard, chief of a local volunteer fire department. Plant worker Wayne Brown said relatively few people were needed to run the rubber-making machinery in the factory’s 40-foot-tall mixing section. The state Division of Occupational Safety and Health said the plant was inspected in October, cited for safety violations and fined about $10,000, which was reduced to about $9,000 early this month. North Carolina Deputy Labor Commissioner John Johnson said the violations were relatively routine. 

UPDATE Fourth Victim Dies from Kinston Plant Explosion; Investigators Wait To Enter Demolished Factory
January 31, 2003
KINSTON, N.C. — A fourth person injured in an explosion at a medical supply factory died Friday as about 75 investigators waited to get inside the unstable, smoldering ruins Friday to determine what caused the blast. The group was trying to determine what caused the blast Wednesday at the West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. plant. Three people were killed outright. The other died at the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center in Chapel Hill. Peter O’Connor, the lead agent on the scene for Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said investigators hoped to enter the building Saturday. Meanwhile, ATF investigators began collecting debris from outside of the building and peered inside with binoculars. A team from the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board theorized Thursday that dust generated in the process of making rubber for medical equipment may have contributed to the fire. Officials from other agencies, including ATF, would not speculate. Investigators said Friday that dust explosions a not uncommon, but that dust alone couldn’t have led to the enormous blast. “Dust by itself doesn’t have any spark in it. We’re looking for a source of ignition,” said Charles Jeffress, a spokesman for the chemical safety board. “When dust gets suspended in the air, some dust is more explosive than others.” He noted the plant has made rubber safely for years. “We can’t speculate at all,” Jeffress said. Don Morel, the president and chief executive officer of West Pharmaceuticals, said the plant used a dust suppression system that was triggered by a concentration of particles in the air. “As far as we know it was working,” he said. Fuel sources for the plant also appeared secure, Morel said. The natural gas line and tanks for propane and diesel fuel outside of the plant appeared intact. The blast shot flames and debris high into the air and shook buildings miles away. About 130 people were inside the plant, and 13 remained hospitalized Friday, nine of them in critical condition at the burn center. The process of making the rubber, known as polyisoprene, produces “significant quantities of dust,” the board said in a news release. The building was stripped to its steel girders in the explosion and fire, and emergency officials were concerned about the structure’s stability as well as whether the site was chemically contaminated. “We are worried at this time that it will collapse,” said Chief Deral Raynor, the fire official in charge of the scene. Investigators were waiting Friday for cranes to lift the steel beams that, along with debris, hindered firefighters’ ability to extinguish the fire and let investigators in. Morel said he expected his workers to go in alongside investigators to help point out what was in the plant. Investigators have interviewed more than 200 plant workers, including many who worked at the plant, over the past two days. Chemical board member Dr. Andrea Taylor estimated damage to the building at $150 million. Though some officials dismissed the idea that the blast was due to a criminal act, ATF agent Earl Woodham said his investigators will research that possibility until they rule it out. “Any time you have a fatality and explosion combined, the ATF gets very interested,” Woodham said. Kevin M. Cruiess, 22 of Kinston, become the fire’s fourth fatality when he died Friday afternoon. Hospital officials didn’t have the cause of death immediately available, but all the patients at the center suffered severe burns. The others who died were identified Thursday as Faye Wilkins, 50; William Gray, 51, of Snow Hill; and James Byrd, 60, of Dover, by the funeral homes handling arrangements for memorial services. 

UPDATE Officials Interview N.C. Plant Workers 
By ESTES THOMPSON Associated Press Writer 
KINSTON, N.C. (AP)–Investigators sought the help of eyewitnesses Thursday for clues to the cause of an explosion and raging fire at a plastics factory that killed three people and injured 37 others. Eleven people remained in critical condition, and officials said Thursday that another was unaccounted for. The explosion in a 40-foot-tall section of the West Pharmaceutical Services plant Wednesday sent flames and debris shooting into the air, touching off fires in the surrounding woods and shaking homes for miles. About 130 people were in the plant at the time. Some of the injured were still in grave danger, with severe burns over up to 70 percent of their bodies. Ten people were in critical condition at the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center in Chapel Hill, spokesman Dr. Anthony Meyer said. “A patient who is badly burned is at risk for a long time,” Meyer said. Other victims had broken or fractured bones, and one person’s arm was blown off. “It was like a scene you never want to see in your life,” said Vicky Lanier, an emergency room physician at Lenoir Memorial Hospital, where one person was in critical condition. “It’s amazing that more of those people weren’t killed. Somebody somewhere was looking out for them.” Company officials gave names for two of the three dead, but Gov. Mike Easley said identities had not been confirmed by the state medical examiner. One worker was unaccounted for as of midday Thursday and may be a fourth fatality, he said. “I am absolutely amazed that we didn’t have a hundred people killed,” Easley said after viewing the scene. The cause of the explosion was a mystery because the plant kept relatively little volatile material on site, West chief executive officer Don Morel said Thursday. The company, based in Lionville, Pa., near Philadelphia, makes pharmaceutical delivery and medical devices. Plant worker Wayne Brown said Thursday that only a few people work in the “automatic compounding system” section of the factory, where the explosion happened. There, mixing machines on an upper level create molten rubber, which is poured down to the ground level and cut into sheets as it cools, he said. Plant workers began coming in Thursday morning to be interviewed by investigators from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board–a federal investigative agency similar to the National Transportation Safety Board–and other state and federal agencies. Many greeted each other with hugs as they entered a meeting hall at the Global Transpark airport, where the investigators had set up shop. Nearby, firefighters trained an aerial hose on the smoldering wreckage of the building. White steam or smoke rose from the ground, though flames that had burned through the night appeared to have abated with help from morning rain. Plant maintenance worker Kevin Morgan said he was about 50 yards away from where the blast happened. He says he heard a single explosion, as loud as a jet engine. Morgan said the ceiling started caving in, the power went out and everything was dark. Someone nearby had a flashlight and everyone who was in there started evacuating to the parking lot. “You see people hollering, screaming,” he said. “It just seemed unreal to me.” The factory employs about 255 people in this city of 25,000 about 70 miles southeast of Raleigh. Its destruction was yet another blow to a city still recovering from flooding after Hurricane Floyd in 1999 and recent manufacturing losses. To the applause of workers, a West vice president announced that salaries would be paid at least through the end of February. “That will give us time to sort out what we’re going to do with resurrecting this plant or redeploying people or what,” Rick Luzzi said. CEO Don Morel said West Pharmaceutical has no intention of abandoning the site. “We’ve got too many good people and too much skill set here,” he said. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said the plant was inspected in October, cited for numerous safety violations and fined about $10,000, an amount reduced to about $9,000 early this month. Since 1993, OSHA has inspected 443 similar facilities and found an average of nearly six violations per site, compared with 15 violations at West Pharmaceutical. Morel said there’s no indication the violations–including problems with its electrical systems design, wiring and portable fire extinguishers–played any role in the explosion. 

Corrosive gas explodes in lab 
by Nathan Fowler 01/29/2003
A laboratory explosion in the UW Aerospace and Engineering Research Building exposed six lab technicians to harmful gas yesterday afternoon. Two of them were sent to Harborview Medical Center with symptoms of chest tightness, respiratory problems and eye irritation. According to Helen Fitzpatrick, public-information officer for the Seattle Fire Department (SFD) the chemical in the bottle was acryloyl chloride, also known as acrylic acid chloride. It can be fatal if absorbed through the skin and can also be extremely destructive to the eyes and respiratory system. “Apparently, the lab techs were testing the chemical to see if it was still reactive,” said Rob Harrill, media-relations officer for engineering and related sciences. According to Harrill, the lab technicians assumed the chemical was not reactive, placed a cap on the bottle and put it back in the correct cabinet. The chemical exploded 15 minutes later, blowing the cabinet doors open and breaking all of the bottles inside. Those bottles also contained acryloyl chloride. No one was present for the actual explosion, but, according to Fitzpatrick, the lab technicians were exposed when they returned. The SFD received the call to the explosion site at 2:25 p.m. and sent a total of 12 units, plus one additional medical unit, to campus, the standard for a hazardous-materials call. More than 200 people were evacuated from the building in response to the explosion. According to Fitzpatrick, the hazardous-materials response team wore full-body Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCEBA) suits as a precautionary measure. Using absorbent pads, they cleaned up the chemicals in the room. The UW will handle any future clean-up procedures. “A couple firefighters received minor eye irritations while working, but nothing more serious than that,” said Fitzpatrick. Harrill said the building would most likely be reopened today, though he wasn’t certain. He also didn’t know what measures the UW would take in response to the explosion, but said the matter would be investigated thoroughly. According to UW chemistry professor Niels Anderson acryloyl chloride reacts with water and mucous membranes, as was the case with the lab technicians. “It’s quite corrosive. It would certainly be an irritant,” he said. The combination of acryloyl chloride and tears could produce hydrchloric acid in the eye, he added. “It is a somewhat dangerous chemical,” said Anderson, “but it is not a particularly dangerous one.” 

Person Burned At Camp Creek 
Source: The Greeneville Sun 01-29-2003 
An unidentified man suffered extensive burns at a Camp Creek Road business this morning. The man’s identity had not been released by authorities by press time today. A Greene County 9-1-1 dispatcher said a Greene County-Greeneville Emergency Medical Services ambulance was dispatched to Rambo Tractor on Camp Creek Road about 8:40 a.m. The original call to 9-1-1 indicated that the burns had resulted from “a boiler explosion,” the 9-1-1 dispatcher said. But the dispatcher said 9-1-1 had been unable to confirm that a boiler explosion had actually taken place. Subsequently, the dispatcher said, 9-1-1 was told that a propane leak had been reported at the same business. Units of the Camp Creek Volunteer Fire Department were dispatched as a result. But Bill Brown, director of the Greene County Emergency Management Agency, said he and representatives of Shaw LP Gas found no evidence of a propane leak. Brown said he was told at the scene that the approximately 25-year-old victim had been burned in a “flash fire” that took place inside a restroom at the farm-machinery business. The victim, according to Brown, had been painting in another part of the building before the fire took place. But it was unclear if the fire was, in any way, connected to painting, according to Brown. Late this morning Brown said he hoped to learn more about the incident by speaking to either the victim, or witnesses, at Laughlin Memorial Hospital, where the victim had been taken by an EMS ambulance. Because of low clouds and rain this morning, a 9-1-1 spokesman said, medical evacuation helicopters were unable to fly either to the accident scene or to Laughlin Memorial Hospital. The victim was being transported by an EMS ambulance to the Burn Intensive Care Unit at Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga late this morning, according to 9-1-1.

Fire Wipes Out Chicken Plant
Jan. 29 – The cause of a fire that destroyed a chicken plant in Morgan County is under investigation this morning. Three volunteer fire departments were called to Perkin’s Farm in the Danville community Tuesday. But the fire had already wiped out the building. There’s nothing left standing this morning. The owners say 30,000 chickens were to arrive on Thursday. They do have insurance and plan to re-build.

Orion shuts half 155,000 bpd La. plant on fire
NEW YORK, Jan 29 (Reuters) – Half of Orion Refining Corp.’s 155,000-barrel-per-day Norco refinery in Louisiana is down after a fire broke out in its coking unit around noon EST on Wednesday, a company spokeswoman said. The company does not know when the unit is expected to restart, she said. “We had a fire in the delayed coking unit in the fractionator. About half the refinery is shut down at this time as a result of the fire, but the cat cracker has continued to run throughout,” the spokeswoman said. The fire was brought under control in about 45 minutes, she said. “Until they get inside and size out the damages, we won’t be able to ascertain when the unit will come back on.” A coker takes heavy residual fuels and cracks it into more valuable products like diesel. There were 90 employees in that area and all have been accounted for. Two people were treated first aid on site while another person went to a hospital, treated and released for an ankle injury, the official said.

Petro-Canada’s Oakville Refinery Fire 
1/28/03 OAKVILLE, ON, Jan 28, 2003 (Canada NewsWire via COMTEX) — 
At approximately 12:05 p.m. on Tuesday, January 28, 2003 a fire occurred at Petro-Canada’s Oakville Refinery that is located near the QEW Bronte Exit. Our local response procedure was activated immediately and our response team assembled on site in cooperation with the Oakville Fire Department. The Ministry of the Environment was notified. The situation was brought under control and poses no threat to the community. The fire is out and the affected units have been isolated and shutdown. One refinery employee received minor injuries and was treated on site. The cause of the incident has yet to be determined and no estimate of damage is available. We will be initiating a full investigation. 

Two fires cut power to 4,000 in Dover
From staff reports 01/29/2003
Back-to-back electrical fires left more than 4,000 Dover utility customers without power for up to 70 minutes Tuesday morning. City Generation Manager Les Blakeman said the failure began at about 9 a.m. when a power-line switch caught fire while workers were trying to isolate a section for maintenance. Recovery efforts were hampered a short time later by a similar fire in a second switch. Blakeman said there were no injuries during the fires, which for a time left areas of downtown Dover and the state government complex without electricity or traffic signals. The outage extended south to the Rodney Village and Mayfair areas, eventually involving about 20 percent of the city’s 21,000 customers. Power was restored to all customers by about 10:10 a.m. Blakeman said prolonged sub-freezing temperatures may have played a role. 

UPDATE Injured Mine Worker Released From Hospital; Waynesburg Man Was Hurt In Air Shaft Explosion 
POSTED: 8:32 a.m. EST January 29, 2003 
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A contract worker injured in an explosion at a Marshall County mine air shaft that killed three others has been released from a Pittsburgh hospital. Richard Brumley, 51, of Waynesburg, Pa., was the chief of the six-member crew that was working 940 feet underground when the explosion occurred on Jan. 22 at Consol Energy’s McElroy Mine near Cameron. All six worked for Central Cambria Drilling Co. of Ebensburg, Pa. One worker, Aaron Meyer, 28, of Moundsville, was treated and released from a Marshall County hospital the day of the blast. Benjamin Bair, 23, of Pentress, remains in critical condition in Pittsburgh’s Mercy Hospital. Brumley had also been treated at Mercy Hospital for burns and other injuries. He was released Monday. State investigators say the explosion may have occurred when a pocket of methane gas became trapped in the air shaft and was ignited by torches being used by the crew. The workers were dismantling steel forms used to build a cement lining in the shaft. Brumley had a gas detector on him at the time of the explosion, but officials aren’t sure if he was using it, Doug Conaway, director of the state Office of Miners’ Health Safety and Training said Tuesday. 

Explosion rocks West Pharmaceutical’s N.C. plant
Several people died Wednesday after an explosion tore through a North Carolina pharmaceutical supply plant owned by West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. of Lionville, Pa., according to published reports. The explosion at the plant in Kinston, N.C., which makes syringes and other plastic medical supplies, occurred shortly before 2 p.m. Kinston City Manager Ralph Clark told CNN that the explosion blew doors open on houses more than one-and-a-half miles away. “It was a tremendous explosion,” he said. Clark said it was an internal explosion at the plant. Jack Lambert of Segrave Aviation told CNN that the explosion “blew the roof off a good 400 feet down the road.” Several burned and injured people walked out of the building, Lambert said. About 100 workers were in the building at the time of the explosion. The cause of the explosion was under investigation. Dozens of emergency crews were on the scene, including about seven emergency helicopters to airlift people out. A police spokesman told CNN there were “multiple casualties.” Lenoir Hospital in Kinston, which is about 75 miles southeast of Raleigh, said at least three people, all burn victims, were in critical condition. They said more people have been brought to the hospital for treatment. Trading in West Pharmaceutical Services’ stock has been halted. The stock fell 84 cents today to $20.33 per share. 

Plant brigade puts out BP refinery furnace fire
A furnace fire was extinguished quickly yesterday at the BP Oil Co. refinery in Oregon. No one was hurt, and an investigation is under way to determine the extent of the damage, BP spokesman Mary Caprella said. The fire, which was reported about 7:15 a.m., resulted from a ruptured furnace tube in the refinery, 4001 Cedar Point Rd. Firefighters from the plant’s fire brigade contained the blaze within 15 minutes, Ms. Caprella said, and the fire did not affect plant operations. 

UPDATE Fire at N.B. plant to cost Noranda $3 million
BELLEDUNE, N.B. (CP) — A fire at Noranda Inc.’s lead smelting operation in northern New Brunswick has caused damage estimated at almost $3 million. The fire occurred Saturday in the silver refinery. There were no reports of injuries and production at the lead operation was not interrupted, the company said in a news release today. “The most important thing is that none of our employees were injured,” said Thompson Hickey, the smelter manager. “The quick response of our employees and internal emergency response team, as well as the assistance from the neighbouring fire departments, were successful in limiting the fire to a specific area of the plant.” The cause of the fire was not known. The smelter employs 470 people. Noranda is one of the world’s largest producers of zinc and nickel and also produces copper, aluminum, lead, silver, gold, sulphuric acid and cobalt.

FIRE DAMAGES PORTLAND BUSINESS 
Investigators are looking into a fire Monday morning at a business in Portland that does a lot of millwork. A maintenance worker at Wright Ryan on Canco Road first noticed the fire just after 9am. Fire officials say the 2-alarm fire was fed by styrofoam, wooden millwork and insulation. A sprinkler system contained the flames in a painting area, but the fire spread into an office as well. No one was injured. Portland’s police and fire departments are handling the investigation. 

Fire in Panoli plant kills 3
Express News Service 
Vadodara, January 27: THREE persons died and two others were seriously injured in a fire that broke out at an industrial plant at Panoli GIDC in Bharuch district, some 50 kms from Vadodara. As per reports, the fire broke out in the plant of Pro Life Biochemical Ltd in the wee hours of Sunday. Sources in the district administration said two workers died on the spot, while one succumbed to his injuries later at the Surat Civil Hospital. The fire started in the dichloro phenyl plant when work was on. Bharuch District Collector Anju Sharma said the fire had started due to some impurity left in the solvent, which caught fire when it came in contact with some source of ignition. Bharuch Superintendent of Police Amarsinh Vasava said that chances of a short circuit in the electrical system cannot be ruled out. Sources in the plant say the workers were sleeping near the dryer in which processing was on. 

Fire at troubled warehouse being probed 
Tuesday, January 28, 2003 By Jennifer Morrill Journal staff writer 
A fire that nearly destroyed a boarded-up Lafayette Street warehouse that had been repeatedly cited in the past for code violations is under investigation and is considered suspicious, officials said. The two-alarm fire, which began about 10:40 a.m. Saturday in the two-story brick building at 160 Lafayette, consumed most of the structure, Firefighter Andrew Johnson said. According to Johnson, it was difficult to determine exactly where the fire started because the building was totally engulfed by the time the first fire companies arrived. Firefighters returning from another call were alerted to the blaze by a passerby who saw the burning building, Johnson said. No one was injured in the fire, he said. The building’s owner, Harvey Shapiro, of New York, was arrested in June after he missed a Municipal Court date to answer building and fire safety violations. Shapiro had planned to convert the building into a senior-assisted living center, officials said. Shapiro, 57, a New York resident and president of Whitlock Senior Care Corp., was held on $750,000 bail at the Hudson County jail in Kearny. He was released a few days later after a portion of his bond was paid, and he was required to develop a plan to clean the site, officials said. In August, the Fire Department’s Haz-Mat Unit responded to the site after workers cleaning the warehouse found five 55-gallon drums filled with a white crystalline substance behind a wall. Nearly a dozen people were taken to the Jersey City Medical Center, though none appeared to be contaminated by the chemical, sodium sulfate, a nontoxic substance commonly used in the textile industry.

Cylinder bursts in cycle repair shop, five injured
Express News Service
New Delhi, January 25: At least five persons were injured when a welding cylinder exploded in a cycle workshop in Tilak Nagar last night. The injured were taken to the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital and are out of danger now. The incident took place at mid-night in Jyoti Repair shop, Harijan Basti, Tilak Nagar. Five persons living in an adjacent building were trapped in the fire. Three fire tenders took two hours to douse the blaze. The injured were Praveen, Manish, Shailender, Shyam and Basant. Police have registered a case of negligence against the shop owner Babu Lal.

Fire Damages Noranda’s Brunswick Silver Refinery 
27 Jan 03(1:41 PM) | E-mail Article to a Friend 
TORONTO (Reuters) – Noranda Inc. said on Monday a fire at the weekend had damaged its Brunswick silver refinery in eastern Canada but had not affected production at the plant’s lead smelter. The Canadian mining and base metals company said there were no injuries and production of the lead operation was not affected since fire was isolated from the silver refinery. Smelter manager Thompson Hickey said the cause of the fire at the operation in Belledune, New Brunswick, was not known. Operations at the silver refinery were shut on Monday while an investigation is conducted on what started the blaze and the extent of the fire damage, a company spokesman said. Brunswick’s current average annual production is 100,000 tonnes of lead and 12 million ounces of silver. The company announced in December it would scale back operations at the plant and reduce production due to low treatment charges and a weak outlook for lead. The smelter will be operated on an eight-month seasonal basis starting in July. Annual lead production is expected to be reduced to about 78,000 tonnes, while silver output will be cut sharply to five million ounces. 

UPDATE Cause of fire at Dothan poultry plant still uncertain 
The Associated Press 1/27/03 2:32 PM
DOTHAN, Ala. (AP) — A fire that damaged a Perdue Farms Inc. poultry plant, causing an ammonia leak, left 850 people temporarily without work Monday as fire marshals returned to try to determine its cause. Richard Jamison, manger of the plant complex, said about 50 of the company’s 900 employees, mostly engineering and maintenance personnel, would be working to get the plant running again. “We’re down until we can get some repairs made and get the place cleaned up,” he said. “Best case is Tuesday, worst case is Thursday or Friday that we can get part of the operation back running and get the birds coming to the processing plant.” He said the plant’s roof, walls and electrical systems were badly damaged by the fire Saturday afternoon. Dothan fire officials said the fire broke out on the first floor of the plant. The fire melted ammonia pipes, causing chemicals still in the piping to seep into the air and prompt an evacuation from nearby homes. It took firefighters about two hours to contain the ammonia leak and put out the fire. About 15 employees inside the plant when the fire broke out were able to safely exit the building after turning off lines to ammonia tanks outside the building, limiting any safety hazard. 

Fire at Pactiv Corporation under investigation
The Canandaigua Fire Department is investigating the cause of a fire at the Pactiv plant in Canandaigua. The fire broke out around 5:30 Sunday morning at the Pactiv Corporation located on Brickyard Road in Canandaigua. The damage did not spread farther than a storage room. The Pactiv Corporation makes specialty-packaging products, which include many products under the Hefty brand label. No one was injured. During a normal work week, about 200 people work at the plant. The corporation is a leading producer of specialty packaging product with annual sales of 2.8 billion dollars. 

800 tonnes of recycled paper go up in smoke Jan 27 2003
By The Journal
More than 800 tonnes of waste paper went up in smoke last night after a blaze at a recycling plant. Fire crews from across East Durham attended the fire at Davidson’s Waste Paper on Thornley Industrial Estate, Shotton, near Peterlee. Firefighters were alerted after a security guard spotted flames coming from a pile of large bales of paper, just before 3pm. Fire brigade assistant divisional officer Keith Gilson said last night crews would spend the night damping down the bales to stop the fire flaring up again. “There is as yet no cause, but there is about 800 tonnes of paper that has been burned,” he said. “We had three appliances and one aerial platform ladder in attendance. There was nobody injured but the high winds made things difficult.” 

Gas Pipeline Explosion Rocks Power Plant Area
Jan. 26 (AP) — A gas pipeline in Fairfield exploded this morning, damaging a nearby building and sending shockwaves for miles. No one was injured. Workers were purging a PG&E gas line at a Calpine energy plant construction site when the explosion happened. No word on what sparked the blast at 10:30 a.m. The force blew out the windows of the building across the street and firefighters felt it two miles away. The explosion caused a small fire that was extinguished before firefighters got there. There’s still no estimate on how much damage was done to the construction site.

UPDATE Mine boss had methane monitor in pocket
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PITTSBURGH — A construction crew boss injured in a mine blast that killed three other workers in West Virginia on Wednesday was found to have a methane monitor in his pocket, a newspaper reported Sunday. Investigators had said last week that the explosion in the McElroy Mine in Cameron, W.Va. might have been caused by workers failing to properly monitor methane levels at the bottom of a 940-foot-deep mine shaft. An acetylene torch that was being used to cut steel might have ignited a pocket of methane gas, according to Doug Conaway, director of the West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training. Investigators first found no indication that methane monitors were used, but they now say that crew boss Richard Brumley, 51, of Waynesburg, Pa. had a device in his pocket, Conaway told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for Sunday’s editions. Brumley and two others were injured in the blast. The workers were employed by Central Cambria Drilling Co., of Ebensburg, Pa. Conaway said investigators believe the methane gas may have been trapped in a water ring. The rings are circular channels dug into the sides of mine shafts, about 4 feet deep and 4 feet wide, dug at periodic intervals to catch water so it doesn’t run down into the shaft. A metal plate used to form the concrete wall of the shaft was in front of a water ring, and investigators believe methane gas might have built up behind the metal while the torch was being used. “Everything we know so far clearly points to methane as the cause,” Conaway said. “I’m confident we had a methane explosion. The workers were at the bottom of the shaft and the acetylene torch could have provided the ignition source.” Richard E. Mount, 37, of Shadyside, Ohio; David W. Abel, 47, of Belmont, Ohio; and Harry P. Roush III, 23, of Colver, Cambria County were killed. Brumley remained in fair condition at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh on Sunday, while Benjamin Bair, 23, of Pentress, W.Va. remained in critical condition. The third worker injured, Aaron Meyer, 28, of Cameron, W.Va., was treated at a West Virginia hospital.

Cookie warehouse burned to a crisp
By Jason Kandel and Phillip W. Browne Staff Writers
Friday, January 17, 2003 – SYLMAR — Nine years after Fantasy Cookie Corp. sustained heavy damage in the Northridge Earthquake, the warehouse of the Sylmar company was gutted early Friday by a three-alarm fire. Flour, sugar and candy, along with business records and manufacturing equipment, were destroyed in the 8 a.m. fire and an unidentified man suffered a burned hand, authorities said. “It’s devastating,” Hans Semder, who founded Fantasy Cookie in 1977, said in a phone interview Friday as he prepared to fly from his home in Valley Stream, N.Y., to be with his sons, Joe and Richard, who now run the company. “When your son calls and is so upset, so shaken because all of that work has gone down the drain … . It’s not the building. That can be replaced. It was the phone call.” It took nearly 100 firefighters about 90 minutes to extinguish the blaze in the 17,000-square-foot warehouse in the 12300 block of Gladstone Avenue. Although the cause was undetermined, authorities said the fire did not appear suspicious. The fire sent up a plume of black smoke that could be seen 40 miles away. “A tremendous amount of all products necessary to bake cookies were stored in the warehouse on pallets,” LAFD Battalion Chief John Nowell said. “Lots of sugar products covered in plastic, all of that stuff burns. A large volume of black smoke and the contents of the roof — tar paper and timbers contributed to all that.” Fantasy Cookie employs about 100 people and distributes private-label products to stores like Ralphs and Trader Joe’s, nationwide and in Canada. Despite the heavy fire and water damage, owner Joe Semder said the plant will continue operating. “We’ll get through it,” he said, between conversations with firefighters and insurance adjusters. “We’ve got our two other plants continuing to make cookies now. We’re still in business. It could have been worse.” Joe and Richard Semder have been part of the Fantasy Cookie operation since their father bought the company in 1977. Hans Semder had begun working in 1960 for a macaroni manufacturer that had a cookie subsidiary. Eventually he became vice president of that operation. He eventually opened his own cookie company in The Bronx, which grew and flourished until he retired from his position there. When Joe Semder graduated from Arizona State University, Hans Semder purchased a cookie company in San Fernando in 1977 for his sons. Fantasy Cookie Corp. grew and eventually moved to the Sylmar site. On Jan. 17, 1994, the facility sustained heavy damage in the 6.7-magnitude Northridge Earthquake. “We bounced back,” Hans Semder said. “Now they have to do all that work again. And they will bounce back again.”

Fire Breaks Out At Philly Oil Refinery, Authorities Could Not Confirm If Anyone Injured 
January 18, 2003 
PHILADELPHIA — Firefighters struggled to bring a fire under control Saturday morning at a south Philadelphia oil refinery. The fire began around 10 a.m. with an explosion at Sun Oil on Passyunk Avenue. Officials said that the fire was under control around noon. Neighbors to the refinery told NBC 10 that they heard a loud explosion. The fire broke out in the cracking unit. There were reports a worker was inside the plant at the time of the fire, but authorities could not confirm if there were any injuries. 

UPDATE Spark, lacquer ignite blaze; Damage may reach $250,000
By SEAN F. DRISCOLL
A Wednesday afternoon fire at an automotive parts warehouse on the city’s west side was caused by an errant spark from a battery charger, fire officials say. marion Asst. Fire Chief Art Ireland said a forklift operator at Auto Tech, 695 N. Miller Ave., inadvertently punctured containers filled with paint lacquer, which spilled onto the floor. A nearby battery charger sparked and ignited the flammable liquid, which then consumed the warehouse area, Ireland said. Pleasant Township Volunteer Fire Chief C.K. Riffil said while he has to wait on precise inventory lists to put together an exact cost of the fire, he already can tell it will rapidly approach a quarter of a million dollars. “(They) had a large inventory in there. It’s gone,” he said. “They lost $100,000 in inventory alone.” The fire, which started at about 4:50 p.m., consumed most of the building’s interior at the south side and sent flames erupting from the door and plumes of smoke into the surrounding area. Extensive damage also was reported at a Wednesday morning fire at 1137 W. Third St. that destroyed the one-story structure. Officials estimated damage at $60,000. James and Rebecca Willis were home alone when the fire broke out at 9:45 a.m., two hours after they had seemingly extinguished a cooking oil fire in the kitchen. But the fire festered in the walls for more than two hours before erupting again, destroying the home, Ireland said. Autumn Shugart, executive director of the Grant County chapter of the American Red Cross, said the Willis family, which includes two children who were not at home when the fire broke out, went to stay with Marion relatives after the fire.

UPDATE Vapor Cloud Blamed For Deadly Brazoria County Blast
3 Workers Remain Hospitalized
HOUSTON — A cloud of flammable vapor may be the reason a Brazoria County oilfield waste storage facility exploded, causing the death of two men and injuring five others, investigators said Thursday. The blast happened at about 4:30 p.m. Monday at BLSR Operating LTD., located on Farm-to-Market Road 521 north of the Darrington state prison unit near the town of Rosharon. The explosion occurred as two trucks were being unloaded at the facility. Witnesses said moments before the explosion, the diesel engines of the trucks raced violently as they sat idling. Carolyn Merritt, chairwoman of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, said a vapor getting into the air intakes of the truck engines could have caused them to race and the exhausts from the engines could have started the fire. But investigators said they can’t identify the vapor or say how it got into the area. Lead investigator John Vorderbrueggen said samples taken at the site may show the cause of the vapor. Merritt said records show three other similar incidents in Texas. “We are concerned because of the widespread handling of oil and gas field wastes in Texas and nationwide,” she said in Friday’s editions of the Houston Chronicle. “Our investigation will determine what further safety measures may be needed in order to prevent similar accidents in the future.” Killed were Macario Martinez, 32, and his brother, Francisco Perez, 22. Both were from Rosharon and worked for BSLR. Three workers for T&L Lease Services, an Alvin-based vacuum truck company, remain in critical condition at University of Texas Medical Branch Hospital in Galveston. They are Jose Octavio Diaz, 21, Tracy Riggle, 38, and Berry Rayburn, 54. Two other BLSR employees have been released from the hospital.

5-Alarm Fire Destroys St. Louis Warehouse
No Injuries Reported
ST. LOUIS — A five-alarm fire destroyed a foam factory early Thursday, causing a temporary shutdown of westbound Interstate 70 during heavy rush-hour traffic. No injuries were reported. The fire was reported about 7:30 a.m. at Diversified Foam Products just north of downtown St. Louis, said Capt. Robert Hennicke of the St. Louis Fire Department. “It is one the smokiest fires I’ve ever seen,” Hennicke said. The factory contained foam and other petroleum products. Hennicke said about 20 workers were inside the four-story building when the fire erupted and there was evidence they tried to fight the fire themselves before fire crews arrived. About 100 firefighters responded to the scene. A few of them made it only about 150 feet inside the building before they were ordered out because of the dense smoke. Workers told firefighters the blaze started on one of the glue tables inside the building. Hennicke said all three upper floors of the building had collapsed and the firefighters were battling the blaze from the outside waiting for it to burn out. “We’ll probably be here most of the morning,” Hennicke said. “We’re getting ready to downsize.” About 30 firetrucks, including some from neighboring fire departments, responded to the fire.

UPDATE Deer Island Blast Blamed On Lighter
Two Workers In Fair Condition With Burns
WINTHROP, Mass. — A methane gas explosion that injured two workers at the Deer Island sewage treatment plant is being blamed on a lighter. Boston fire department spokesman Richard Powers told the Boston Globe that Tuesday’s blast was touched off when one of the men tried to light a cigarette. Smoking is prohibited in all buildings at the facility operated by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority. The two men suffered first- and second-degree burns and both remain hospitalized in fair condition. A spokesman for the MWRA says the workers were contractors doing maintenance work on sewage pipes.

Fire Destroys Office Building at Aplington Grain Elevator
An explosion and fire destroyed an office building at a feed and grain elevator in northeast Iowa. The State Fire Marshal’s Office was at the scene Tuesday investigating the cause of the explosion at the Aplington Feed and Grain Elevator, northwest of Waterloo. It’s believed the explosion, which occurred Monday, originated in the building’s basement, said Fire Chief Hal Stahl. One employee suffered minor injuries. The worker, who was not identified, was treated at Satori Hospital in Waterloo and released. Don Stewart, owner of Don’s Auto Repair, said he looked out his door after hearing a muffled boom. “I walked up there and saw there was an explosion of some kind,” he said. “There was material scattered all over the driveway.” Firefighters said the explosion probably came from the furnace in the building’s basement. “It was enough to expand the walls and blow the windows out,” said Assistant Fire Chief Gaylen Eilderts.

Man killed in Sydney factory explosion
Investigations are underway after a man died today in an explosion at what is believed to be a shipping container factory in Sydney’s west. A worker at an adjoining factory unit in Carnarvon Street, Silverwater, said he “heard a very large explosion” but would not comment further. Police said the matter had been referred to WorkCover for investigation. Ambulance officers were called to the industrial complex shortly before 9.30am (AEDT) following reports of a possible explosion and death. A spokesman said one man was dead but he could give no further details. “All we know is that there was an industrial accident with possibly some sort of explosion and one male was deceased at the scene,” the spokesman said. “I don’t even have an age on him.” A WorkCover spokesman said an inspector had been sent to the site and no further comment could be made. The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union said it had sent investigators to the site. “We’ve already been made aware this morning that another manufacturing worker has suffered fatal injuries at Silverwater and we’re currently investigating that,” NSW secretary Paul Bastian said.

Explosion rocks scrap metal firm
Twinsburg Township – An explosion and fire rocked a scrap metal company yesterday, bringing firefighters from four communities to battle the blaze. No injuries were reported. The explosion occurred about 5:15 p.m. at Commercial Alloys on Highland Road. The company is in a one-story, 19,000-square-foot building. The explosion came from either a duct system inside the building or a connecting outside collector system for aluminum dust, said Mike Laing, a Twinsburg firefighter and paramedic. The fire was confined to one side of the building. No figure was available on how many workers were inside the building at the time of the explosion. Cause of the blast is under investigation, Laing said. A damage estimate is expected to be set later.

UPDATE Fire damage estimated at $1.5M
By GREG KOZOL
A fire at Wire Rope Corporation of America caused an estimated $1.5 million in damage to one of the company’s production areas, the city fire inspector said. Mike Johnson, the fire inspector, said unattended equipment appeared to be the cause of the fire, which started at 9 p.m. Sunday night. Mr. Johnson said a heating unit ignited a vat of lubricating oil. The fire caused extensive damage in the two-story production building, which is just south of Wire Rope’s administrative offices on North Second Street. The intense heat caused some of the I-beams inside the production building to begin melting, fire officials said. “There’s structural damage,” Mr. Johnson said. “The roof is sagging and pulling away from the building.” The fire won’t have a major effect on Wire Rope’s production levels, said John Josendale, Wire Rope senior vice president. He said a loss of power and phone service in the adjacent administrative building forced the company to shut down many of its office functions for one day, affecting 50 employees. He said the administrative building didn’t suffer structural damage, and the offices are expected to reopen today. He said the fire damage isn’t expected to affect overall employment at the plant. All production workers were on the job Monday, Mr. Josendale said. The company did not say how many employees worked in the building that suffered fire damage, but officials said it was a small part of Wire Rope’s overall work force in St. Joseph. “It’s not that large of an area,” Mr. Josendale said of the building where the fire occurred. “We put them to work in other areas.” Wire Rope’s production facility spans multiple buildings over several blocks in downtown St. Joseph. The fire damaged a building used in the stranding process of making wire rope products, which are used in mining, construction and other heavy industries. Mr. Josendale said the company has insurance and is hoping repair costs don’t affect Wire Rope’s long-term finances. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May and is hoping to file a reorganization plan next month. The company was in the process of evaluating the building to see when production could resume inside the facility. Mr. Josendale said the building can be salvaged. Firefighters were on the scene until 12:30 a.m. Monday. Fire crews were called back to Wire Rope at least four times Monday to check on hot spots in the roof. Wire Rope employs about 550 people in St. Joseph.

Gas explosion hospitalizes city man
By SHANE HOLLADAY, EDMONTON SUN
An Edmonton man is in hospital after walking into an explosion at a Husky Energy oil compression site in northern Alberta. “He can’t really talk about it. His face and his mouth are all burned,” Tim McClellan’s brother Robert told The Sun. “It burned him pretty good. His eyes are burnt closed.” McClellan is an independent journeyman mechanic contracted to work for Husky Energy, Robert said. The 39-year-old man was called in to repair a natural gas-powered generator at Husky Energy’s Haig Lake compressor station, he said. “It was running rough and he went to go do some work on it. He inspected it and found that one of the cylinders had low compression.” After the repair, a Husky Energy operator started the machine and he and McClellan left the building, Robert said. But his brother went back alone, believing he forgot his tools near the generator. “He walked in the building a few steps, and it went at him – a fireball.” The generator had been running for about half an hour, Robert said. It was probably leaking natural gas through the exhaust port, he added. McClellan suffered first- and second-degree burns to his face, neck and hands in the blast, said Husky spokesman Michael Lawrence. He described the explosion as “flash of flame” that took place at 1:55 p.m. There was minor damage to the facility, he said, and McClellan was airlifted to hospital in High Level 10 minutes later. His wife was with him in hospital last night. “Currently, our health and safety people are working with Occupational Health and Safety to find out what happened.” Chris Chodan, a spokesman for Occupational Health and Safety, said department investigators are at the site. Haig Lake is about 175 km northeast of High Prairie by air, which is about 366 km northwest of Edmonton.

Potato-Processing Plant Fire Rages in Idaho
MIKA BELLE Courtesy of Idaho Press Tribune
CALDWELL — Fire crews from throughout the region battled a blaze late into the night Monday that engulfed a large waste pond at the Caldwell Simplot potato-processing plant. No one was hurt in the pit fire, which erupted across Highway 19 from the plant located west of Caldwell. A Simplot spokesman said company operations were relatively unscathed — surprising, considering the size of the fire. The glow of the flames that leapt off the pond’s surface and towered into the Canyon County sky were startling — even when seen several miles away. “I saw bursts of flames shooting up, up, up,” a witness in Caldwell’s Canyon Hill area reported. “It had to be the size of a city block, easily.” The intense heat caused whirlwinds of fire to rise far above the surface of the pond and sent smoke billowing throughout the area. Officials said the fire should not produce any fumes harmful to animals or humans. As firefighters struggled to hold back the flames, officials warned commuters planning to travel through the area this morning to plan extra time in case of detours. If crews are still on the scene battling the blaze today, Idaho 19 will likely be shut down near Simplot. The blaze was reported around 7 p.m., when local fire departments were deluged with reports from citizens. Although officials said it was too early to speculate what sparked the fire late Monday, Simplot spokesman Fred Zerza cited spontaneous combustion from the combination of organic materials in the waste pit as a possible cause. Simplot spokesman Fred Zerza said the potato-processing plant west of Caldwell employs about 600 people. He didn’t know how many people were working there during the blaze. Zerza said eight people work at a Simplot ethanol-plant on the fire side of the highway, but that the burning pit is at an open area where no personnel or structures were threatened. He said as long as the both plants are accessible from the highway, operations will continue. Zerza said the fire was in a waste pit with residual materials containing ethanol from potato processing. Firefighters from Caldwell, Middleton, Notus, Star and Wilder were called in to put out the blaze and patrol units from the Canyon County sheriff’s office and Idaho State Police diverted traffic from the area. Caldwell fire officials told reporters late Monday they asked Boise fire crews to assist with specialized equipment that douses flames with foam instead of water. They anticipated the foam would aid efforts to put the fire out quickly. 

Fire, explosion destroy Peoria business 
January 22, 2003 By ANGELA GREEN of the Journal Star
PEORIA – Fine grains of plastic lying on the floor of a North Valley industrial business likely sparked a fire Tuesday afternoon that destroyed much of the building and sent thick, biting smoke throughout the area. The blaze, which was expected to smolder through the night, caused an estimated $2.5 million in damage to Rogun Mobile Power Wash, 407 NE Rock Island Ave. No one was seriously hurt in the fire. “It was kind of like a grain explosion or a dust explosion,” Fire Chief Roy Modglin explained at the scene. Enormous plumes of dark smoke descended on the densely populated neighborhood that surrounds the block-long warehouse, bringing moments of darkness to the afternoon sky. The smoke could be seen for miles and at times created near zero-visibility conditions for motorists driving along Adams Street. The industrial cleaning and sandblasting company sits about two blocks east of lower Glen Oak Park. Employees were inside the building when the fire broke out about 2:40 p.m. but all were safely evacuated. Hoever, one of the 30 firefighters at the scene was taken to an area hospital to get his eyes flushed out. He was expected to return to work later that night, Fire Battalion Chief Gary Van Voorhis said late Tuesday. The fire apparently started on the floor of a sandblasting booth, which was littered with plastic granules, the byproduct of sandblasting magnesium wheels. It was not immediately known how the fire started, but it spread after one of the business’s owners initially tried to put it out by stepping on it, Van Voorhis said. One of Rogun’s owners, Rich Gunther Jr., was at the scene but declined to comment. The fire was contained to the factory section of the building, but it destroyed millions of dollars in inventory and machinery, Van Voorhis said. The factory section appeared to be a total loss, Modglin said. “We’ve been in defense mode since we got here,” he said two hours after the fire started. “We didn’t do an internal attack because it was obviously engulfed when we got here. “This could have been a lot worse,” Modglin added. Firefighters were expected to monitor the still-smoldering building throughout the night, Van Voorhis said. The business employs about 50 people, though it was unclear exactly how many were working at the time of the fire. Nearby residents were not evacuated, but police ushered those who gathered nearby back to safe distances after a series of explosions and for fear the smoke could contain hazardous chemicals. As it turns out, there were no potentially toxic materials in the business, and nothing in the air was especially harmful, Modglin said. It was the second time in five years that disaster struck the business. In October 1998, authorities evacuated more than 300 people from their homes after an industrial accident at the business sent a cloud of orange gas at least 100 feet in the air. More than 30 people were taken to area hospitals after being exposed to the nitrogen oxide. After the 1998 accident, Rogun removed the potentially hazardous chemicals from the plant, Modglin said, adding that “was more of a hazardous materials problem.” Brian Watt, who lives just blocks from the business, knew something big was on fire as he drove home from Illinois Central College in East Peoria. “I was leaving school at ICC, and I could see white, black smoke from there,” Watt said. He joined a group of onlookers in front of 604 Haungs Ave., less than a block from Rogun. Inside the home at that address was Michelle Jablonski, who said an initial explosion shook at her feet. “My old man heard the first explosion,” she said. “He said, ‘Go out and see. You know you want to be nosy.’ I came out. I saw smoke. Then there was another explosion.” Jablonski and her family heard about six explosions. Modglin said the blasts likely were caused by exploding propane tanks. “Every time you heard a boom, you could feel it in your feet,” Jablonski said. “The fire just spread in a matter of seconds. “The smoke came rolling down the street, and we had to go in the house a couple of times,” she said. “It smells like burning rubber, like burning tires.” The Jablonskis bought their home just a few months before the October 1998 chemical accident at Rogun. “Everybody’s got to make a living,” Jablonski said about the business, where her foster son recently got a third-shift job. “It’s good for the neighborhood, but it’s dangerous.” Modglin said businesses such as Rogun are naturally more susceptible to fire because of the “type of business they run.” “I think it’s probably part of the process of the industry,” he said. “It’s a little more dangerous than a grocery store.”

Fire breaks out at Teva plant 
Teva says the fire was small and did not damage its production lines. A fire has broken out at a Teva’s (Nasdaq: TEVA) “Asia” plant in Petah Tikva. No casualties are reported. Teva says the fire was small and did not damage its production lines. Staff extinguished the fire before fire fighters arrived at the scene, the company added. Teva says it has yet to estimate damage from the fire. 

Explosion Aboard Ship At Blount Island Injures Two; Waterfront Cleared As Two-Alarm Fire Burns
January 21, 2003
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Firefighters fought a two-alarm fire aboard a container ship moored at the Jacksonville Port Authority’s Blount Island dock under control after an explosion was reported in the ship’s cargo hold. Coast Guard and Jacksonville Fire-Rescue had dozens of units battling the fire aboard the SeaFreight Line’s Ara J from both land and from tugboats. “Firefighters could see flames, not only flames two decks below the weather deck, but ships personnel already engaged in combat activity,” Jacksonville Fire-Rescue spokesman Tom Francis said. Channel 4 learned that two people were injured. Carlos Estupinan, 56, was transported to Shands-Jacksonville Medical Center, but a broken arm and leg appear to be his worst injuries. Another man was treated for smoke inhalation at the scene. Gail Harrison, who works in the area, reported that there was an explosion. “The ship is burning very heavily,” Harrison told Channel 4 just after 3 p.m.. “The smoke is bellowing out — it’s quite black.” The waterfront was evacuated and the ship nearest to the Ara J pulled was moved away from the docks. The Coast Guard established a security zone around the ship. Preliminary information indicated the explosion resulted when fumes from old batteries ignited by welding in the cargo hold. The Ara J had arrived from Jamaica Tuesday morning early for repairs.

Fire breaks out at welding supply co.
By: news14.com
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A fire broke out at the National Welders Supply House off of Old Dowd Road Tuesday morning and investigators from the Charlotte Fire Department said they are still trying to find out what caused the blaze in the first place. The fire was sparked shortly after 3 a.m. Tuesday, and firefighters contained the blaze in about 20 minutes. Old Dowd Road was closed at the intersection of Boyer Road for a short time, but has since been reopened. There were no injuries in the fire. news14.com will continue to follow the investigation and update its progress through the day.

UPDATE Pool worker injured in Jan. 9 explosion dies
By MICHAEL WERNER
TAMPA — A pool worker who suffered severe burns during a Jan. 9 explosion on the job died late last week. Fidel Rubio-Hernandez, 26, of Nocatee, died Thursday around 9:30 a.m. at Tampa General Hospital, said hospital spokeswoman Ellen Fiss. He suffered second-degree burns over 40 to 50 percent of his body. rubio, an employee of Fox Fiberglass Inc., was resurfacing an empty pool at a house in the 400 block of Park Lane Drive when the explosion occurred. According to the Venice Fire Department, acetone used to clean the pool’s fiberglass walls drained into the pool bottom. One of the workers vacuumed up the “highly combustible” chemical. A spark from the vacuum’s motor ignited the acetone, causing the explosion, said Capt. Joe Catalioti of the Venice Fire Department, which investigated the explosion. Rubio, 26, didn’t appear to speak or understand English, said Capt. Bill Stuckey, of the Sarasota County Fire Department, which treated Rubio and the other two men at the scene. Rubio, who was born in Zimapan, Hidalgo, Mexico, moved to Nocatee five years ago and worked for Fox Fiberglass installing and repairing swimming pools and spas. His family could not be reached for comment, but his employer, Kevin Fox, remembered him as benevolent. “He was kind to a fault,” Fox said. “We’re all just really hurting for him.” Rubio is survived by his father, Geronimo Rubio of Mexico; a friend and companion, Victorina Salinas of Nocatee; a daughter, Natasha G. Rubio of Nocatee; and a brother, Jaime of Hidalgo, Mexico. A mass will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday at St. Paul’s Catholic Church in Arcadia. Visitation will be from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at Ponger- Kays- Grady Chapel, Arcadia. Rubio will be buried later in Hidalgo. Two other workers were injured in the explosion. Michael Stotz was released from Tampa General Jan. 10, and Rubio’s brother-in-law, Ricardo Salinas, was treated and released from Bon Secours Venice Hospital a few hours after the explosion.

Fire Damages Zellwood Manufacturing Plant
No Injuries Reported
ZELLWOOD, Fla. — Firefighters are on the scene of a blaze at a manufacturing plant Monday. The fire started at around 12 a.m. at Zellwin Farms, a plant that manufactures egg crates, WESH NewsChannel 2 reported. Firefighters remained on the scene Monday afternoon destroying the shell of the plant, so they could get inside to fight hot spots. The highly flammable commercial egg crates created an inferno that lit up the northwest Orange County sky. Add to it the products used to make egg cartons. “A majority of the fire was in a recyclable material that they make packing crates out of, and most of the material was stacked almost to the roof at the front of the structure, and when the first units got on the scene, that’s where the majority of the fire was,” Orange County Fire Department representative Mark Rhame said. Workers arrived for the 7 a.m. shift in awe. Thirty-seven people are without a job, and there was a shift on duty when flames broke out, but nobody was injured. Larry Petty, a maintenance man, recalls the labor that went into building the place four years ago. “We built it from the ground up, and we converted it from a carrot-packing house to a crate-molding plant,” Petty said. Police have closed U.S. Highway 441 between Sadler and Ponkan roads, but detours are clearly marked. As dawn broke, cardboard, newspaper, and egg crates still smoldered. It took 50 firefighters from Orange and Lake counties on scene in the hours after midnight to contain the blaze.

Fire causes damage at Palatine tool company
By Amy McLaughlin Daily Herald Staff Writer
Fire officials say a blaze at the Fels Tool and Manufacturing plant at 301 S. Hicks Road was contained to only one area of the company’s warehouse. Its being blamed on a faulty oven that got too hot. No one was injured. About 25 firefighters, mostly from Palatine, had the fire out in about 20 minutes after getting the call at about 2:18 p.m. Sunday. Palatine Fire Battalion Chief Kevin Kennelly said an oven used to melt metals overheated and actually ignited some of the metal inside. The metal spilled out of the oven and started a small fire. “If you saw it from the road, you’d think the whole building was burning down,” Kennelly said. He said the ovens have safety switches that will shut them off automatically if they get too hot. But, that did not happen. “It really just comes down to mechanical failure,” he said. Firefighters had to break some windows to get inside and turn off the gas power to the oven. Smoke filled the three-story warehouse and neighboring two-story office building. Kennelly estimated the damage to be valued at about $1,500.

UPDATE CSB Examining Source of Flammable Vapor Cloud in Fatal Fire in Texas
Investigators with the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, accompanied by Board Chairman Carolyn W. Merritt, continue their investigation into the cause of a deadly flash fire at an oilfield waste recovery facility south of Houston, which killed two workers and injured three others on Monday, January 13, 2003. The accident occurred at the BLSR Operating Ltd. petroleum storage and separation facility on Route 521 in Rosharon, Texas. The CSB is an independent federal agency charged with determining root causes of chemical accidents and making recommendations to prevent their recurrence. CSB investigations generally take 6-12 months to complete, although safety alerts may be issued more rapidly as needed. Investigators are now focusing their attention on interviewing the truck drivers, both of whom survived the accident, as well as plant employees and managers. They will also be analyzing residues of oil field waste material from the truck and the plant site to determine the source of highly flammable fumes that are suspected in the tragic accident. “We are operating right now on the possibility that a flammable cloud formed over the two tank trucks shortly after their arrival at the site, causing what we call a ‘deflagration’ or flash fire of the vapor,” says Merritt. Lead investigator John Vorderbrueggen notes that the incident was not technically an explosion, which generally occurs in an enclosed space. In this case, the fire occurred under an open-air shed. Eyewitnesses have confirmed to investigators that the truck diesel engines began racing moments before the deflagration, indicating that flammable vapors were entering the air intakes, according to the CSB. The fact that the truck engines were running and serving as a potential ignition source is considered to be a significant issue in this investigation. “We have located government records of other incidents in Texas and elsewhere where diesel engines revved up just before deadly fires and explosions due to the presence of flammable peroleum vapors,” Merritt says. “We are concerned because of the widespread handling of oil and gas field wastes in Texas and nationwide, and our investigation will determine what further safety measures may be needed in order to prevent similar accidents in the future. In the meantime, it is important that all similar operations be aware of the potential danger of ignition from these waste products. Eliminating ignition sources during flammable waste handling operations is critical to safety.” Investigators emphasize that the diesel engine blocks did not explode, but the flash fire did destroy the cabs, tires, hoses, and other combustible truck components. Neither the waste tanks nor the fuel tanks ignited, leading investigators to believe that flammable vapors burned in a rapid hot fire.

UPDATE, BP expects to be fined for Prudhoe explosion
ANCHORAGE (AP) — BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. is expecting state safety regulators to fine the company for a well fire and explosion last August that critically injured an oil field worker. The Alaska Occupational Safety and Health office has notified BP that it will receive a citation and probably a fine, said BP spokesman Daren Beaudo. The citation will say the company violated the state’s ”safe employment” law, including failure to protect workers from a high-pressure well and failure to ensure that employees followed the procedure for safely reactivating the well after a shutdown, he said. The citation probably will be issued in the next couple of weeks, Beaudo said. The size of the fine has not been specified. ”It’s still under investigation so we can’t make any comment,” said Thomas Brudnicki, an industrial hygienist with Occupational Safety and Health. BP has cooperated fully with the state investigation and has taken internal steps to probe the accident, review its procedures, and change company policies to guard against another explosion, Beaudo said. In a related development, the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, the state agency that oversees oil and gas production, has issued an order spelling out how BP must manage wells with pressure problems like those in the well that exploded. BP already has implemented, or pledged to fulfill, the steps outlined for high-pressure wells, Beaudo said. The explosion occurred early on the morning of Aug. 16, 2002, when BP oil field worker Don Shugak of Anchorage arrived to relieve pressure at well A-22, on Prudhoe’s A Pad. The explosion in the metal wellhouse blasted Shugak several feet toward his company truck parked nearby. He suffered serious burns, multiple broken bones and other injuries and spent about three months in a Seattle hospital recuperating. A BP investigation found that steel casing ruptured 17 feet below the surface of the ground, releasing high pressure that damaged valves inside the wellhouse and triggered a natural gas Explosion. Days later, BP temporarily shut down 137 wells with pressure problems similar to that of well A-22, and inspected them for safety. The shutdown delayed production last year of about 2 million barrels of oil worth roughly $50 million. This was, however, only about 1 percent of Prudhoe Bay’s expected output for the year. The Oil and Gas Conservation Commission is requiring BP to provide a ”hazard study” of high-pressure wells by Feb. 14, and to submit a pressure-management plan that includes ”timely” testing and commission notification of wells with pressure problems. BP officials say the company already has set stricter pressure limits for operating wells, and set out rules for workers to more closely monitor wells on startup, which was the point at which A-22 exploded and injured Shugak.

Tractor fire put out at ACUA recycling center
By NEAL BUCCINO Staff Writer, (609) 272-7211, E-Mail
EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP – A 20-foot tractor burst into flames Sunday night at an Atlantic County Utilities Authority holding station for old tires, cardboard and propane tanks. The explosion created a spectacular blaze and charred the three- to five-ton tractor, but led to no injuries or other damage. If the huge building’s sprinkler system hadn’t kicked in at the right time, however, things might have turned out much worse, according to Chief James Garth of the Farmington Volunteer Fire Co. The burning vehicle stood near about 15 old propane tanks. The tanks were empty and brought in for recycling. “They’re empty, but they’re still bombs,” Garth said. The vehicle also stood next to another, larger tractor. The fire began at about 7:40 p.m., according to fire officials An overhead sprinkler system immediately began spraying water on the burning vehicle, keeping the blaze under some control but not putting it out, Garth said. The fire also triggered an alarm at the Farmington fire station. The building, at the ACUA site on Delilah Road, is a wide, mostly empty transfer station. The roof is about 40 feet high. Tires and other debris are taken there for temporary storage before workers move them to another site for recycling, Garth said. On Sunday night the spacious area contained a pile of tires, a pile of what looked like cardboard boxes, and other large vehicles – including two trucks that appeared to be 18-wheelers and a pickup truck. After receiving the alarm, firefighters from the Farmington and Cardiff volunteer companies responded to the scene. Despite the spraying water, Garth said saw flames streaming to the ceiling from the tractor’s engine area, from all four tires and from an area in front that probably contained a hydraulic pump to maneuver the tractor’s scoop. He said the hydraulic fluid probably strengthened the blaze. The flames were dangerously close to the tractor that stood nearby, Garth said. An ACUA worker got the keys and drove that vehicle to a far side of the building while the first vehicle burned. Firefighters sprayed water on the flames and the fire was out about 20 minutes later. The fire’s cause was unknown and still under investigation Sunday night.

Fireworks Blast Kills 7 Ahead of Chinese New Year
VOA News
An explosion rocked a fireworks factory in China’s Hunan Province on Saturday, killing seven people and injuring nine others. Authorities say the explosion at the Kai Li factory was caused by workers violating factory regulations by using a banned chemical, potassium chloride, to make fireworks. The blast added to an annual surge in fatalities as fireworks production rises ahead of the Lunar New Year, when Chinese set off billions of firecrackers. The government announced a safety crackdown two years ago after an explosion in a village in Jiangxi province killed 42 people.

Downtown fire is minor
Matt Leingang Democrat and Chronicle 
(January 26, 2003) — Running on a treadmill up on the eighth floor of the Crossroads Building in downtown Rochester, Jacqueline Prosperi smelled smoke. She stopped, checked the machine’s electrical cords but found nothing. Curious about the source, she opened the door to the gym and discovered thick black smoke in the hall. “The building was on fire, and I panicked,” said Prosperi, a 39-year-old paralegal from Irondequoit who works in the building, a sleek glass tower of 17 stories at Main and State streets. “All I could think of was that movie, The Towering Inferno.” Prosperi was one of scores of people forced to evacuate the office building Saturday morning after an electrical fire in the basement released heavy smoke. No injuries were reported, and the damage was mostly contained to the basement, but the uncertainty of the moment shocked the building’s inhabitants, who came to catch up on some work left over from the week. “I was afraid to move,” said Prosperi, who called 911 with a cell phone and waited in the smoke-filled hallway for 10 minutes before a team of six firefighters arrived to escort her down a dark stairway. The fire was reported at 11:23 a.m., said Rochester fire Capt. Dan McBride. The initial response — three alarms with at least four fire companies that filled the historic Four Corners area of downtown with about 50 firefighters — made the fire look more serious than it turned out to be. Firefighters descended to an electrical vault in the basement and put out the fire with a dry chemical, which is commonly used instead of water for electrical fires, McBride said. McBride said he heard from a few people in the building that the alarm system did not go off on all floors. He said the alarm likely failed because the building’s power and back-up power systems were compromised by the fire. “Given the size of the electrical problem, it’s understandable,” McBride said. Rochester Gas and Electric Corp. was called in to cut power to the building. Of the evacuated workers, about 13 received precautionary checkups for smoke inhalation from Rural/Metro Medical Services, McBride said. They were all fine. The Crossroads Building opened in 1969. Its current street-level occupant is Fleet Bank. 

Tank Explosion: Three Killed in Lagos
By Chris Anucha
No fewer than three persons died from a tank explosion in a building on Victoria Island Annex Extension, Lagos on Thursday night. The incident, which occurred at about 8.30am- 9pm at the old building under reconstruction, was said to have claimed the lives of the three workmen while trying, on the orders of the contractor handling the project, to set ablaze an underground water tank in the premises. The three persons were said to have died in the hospital where they were rushed for medical attention for the severe injuries they sustained from the explosion. Contacted last night for confirmation, both the State Commissioner of Police (CP), Mr. Young Arebamen and the Area Commander, Area ‘A’ Command of the State, Police Command, Mr. Felix A. Ojiri, said the bodies of the three persons, who died in the incident, have been deposited in the mortuary at the Lagos Island General Hospital, while the Contractor to the building was being held at the Maroko Police Division for questioning. Ojiri, who described the incident as purely accidental and an act of stupidity on the part of the contractor and the men, said the contractor had found the underground tank in the building after demolishing it for reconstruction. “They tried to remove it but they could not because the iron rods around it would not allow it to be pulled out. Then, they thought of putting fire on place to melt the iron rods. They heaped up tyres there, tried to put fire on them, they did not catch, then they put petrol and set fire on them. Just as the fire was burning, the tank suddenly exploded, and pieces of it hit the workmen, who were severely injured. They were rushed to the hospital where they eventually gave up the ghost. It was an act of stupidity” the Area Com-mander said. 

Blaze damages S.A. candle plant 
By Manny Gonzales San Antonio Express-News 
Fire threatened to destroy a century-old building housing a candle-making factory in downtown’s south end, but the Saturday afternoon blaze was soon contained. Flames engulfed two bus-size outdoor tanks containing thousands of gallons of paraffin at the rear of the A.I. Root Company of Texas, 537 S. Flores St., at about 3 p.m. Two dozen San Antonio firefighters stopped the fire from tearing into the building. It caused an estimated $10,000 damage, fire officials said. Most of the factory was untouched. “Paraffin is flammable and if (the fire) had ruptured those tanks, we would have had a real big problem on our hands,” District Fire Chief Neal Nye said. Cause of the fire is under investigation. The company is closed on weekends and no one was in the building when firefighters arrived. A guest at a nearby hotel notified authorities of the blaze. Root employs about 50 full-time workers. Several longtime workers came to the scene. “We were driving by on the highway and saw the smoke,” said veteran candle maker Mary Reta, 66. “I make it a habit of looking over at the tanks from the highway, but this time I saw smoke and just knew it was my factory.” The company is family-owned and headquartered in Medina, Ohio. Employees who inspected the damage Saturday said they are a tight-knit group with personal stock in the business. Root, which has operated the factory here since 1919, specializes in high-end candles, making 40,000 a day with sales of about $27 million a year. Some 40 percent of its business is in scented candles. “You can smell us all the way to the courthouse,” said Tina Neisch, a manager at Root. “We make it smell pretty here.”

Overnight Fire Injures Two
Firefighters say the fire began after an explosion around one o’clock this morning at a business on Millers Lane that provides chemicals for some Rubbertown plants. When they arrived, firefighters saw smoke and flames coming up from the roof, and through closed doors. Firefighters say workers were cleaning a tanker truck which may have contained the chemical benzene when the explosion happened. The two victims were taken to University Hospital. 

Gujarat: Two killed in factory blast 
Ahmedabad, Jan 26. (UNI): An explosion at a chemical factory at Satlej village in Kalol district about 35 kms from here, killed at least two workers and injured five others today. Fire brigade sources here, the explosion took place at around 0930 hours this morning when one of the reactors exploded due to over heating at Caro Chemicals at Satej village. The sources said, the explosion was so powerful that two workers — Kaloo Amraji (22) and Laloo Damore (20)– were killed on the spot. The five injured persons have been admitted to private clinic for treatment at Kalol. A case has been registered and further investigations are on. 

Fire near Gold Reef City put out
26/01/2003 09:06 – (SA) 
Johannesburg – The fire that blazed through a fibre-glass factory near Gold Reef City south of Johannesburg following an explosion there on Saturday evening has been extinguished, emergency services officials said. Gerhard van Rooyen, spokesperson for Johannesburg Emergency Management Services said on Saturday night that fire-fighters at the scene were concentrating on damping down the area. “They’re just making sure everything is okay because there is a possibility, with the wind etc, that the fire could re-ignite overnight, so they’re just making sure all the hotspots are put out properly,” he said. The fire, which completely destroyed the factory on Southdale Drive, had earlier spread to the factory next door but Van Rooyen said that fire had also been extinguished. He said a 6-month-old baby who suffered abrasions on her stomach from flying debris in the vicinity of the blaze had been released from Millpark Hospital in Johannesburg. However, a fire-fighter who suffered smoke inhalation from the blaze was being held overnight at the same hospital and was receiving oxygen treatment because of the toxicity of the factory air. Van Rooyen said the value of the damage could not yet be estimated, partly because the roofs and windows of houses in the vicinity of the blaze had also been destroyed. He said the people who were earlier evacuated from their homes had been allowed back after fire investigators assessed their houses and gave them the go ahead.

UPDATE Havco sawdust fire put out Friday morning
Southeast Missourian ~ Saturday, January 25, 2003
Firefighters from six departments or districts battled until 5:38 a.m. Friday, putting out a silo fire at Havco Wood Products. Scott City’s fire department responded to the fire at about 1:30 p.m. Thursday. There were no injuries. “It’s been a long day,” said Scott City fire chief Jay Cassout Friday afternoon. “Firefighting is bad enough for paid people, but it’s real hard on the volunteers who have to turn around and go back to their regular jobs. It’s tough.” Scott City called for help from Cape Girardeau, Delta, Oran, Morley, Chaffee and the MBC Fire District. Cassout said the extra help was needed to assist with manpower. With temperatures as cold as they were, Cassout said the firefighters rotated every 10 or 15 minutes. The reason it took so long to contain the fire is because firefighters had to empty the silos — filled with sawdust — to put out the blaze. The fire burned from the top down. The fine sawdust powder made for dangerous conditions, Cassout said. The plant was closed off to workers yesterday, and a receptionist said Friday that employees won’t get back to work until next week. The plant employs about 200 people.

Blast flattens pet food plant
By RAY CHESTERTON 27jan03
AN explosion in a pet food plant in Gunnedah broke windows 3km away. A fire officer said he saw the explosion from Tamworth 70km from Gunnedah. “It’s very flat around here and the explosion was like the mushroom of a little nuclear blast,” he said. The explosion: * Blew out 20 giant roller doors on a building 80m away. * Damaged at least 30 homes, some extensively. * Threw roof tiles and steel sheeting more than 300m into the air. * Did at least $200,000 damage to the nearby SES building, smashing windows, blowing doors off hinges, collapsing the ceiling and knocking a brick wall out of alignment. Gunnedah rocked from the force of the blast which destroyed the pet food plant causing a giant economic hole in a community already ravaged by drought and unemployment. The blast started a fire that took several hours to control. Local residents rushed from their homes after the first shock wave hit. More than 50 had to be evacuated from their homes. The explosion happened at 8pm on Saturday and only extraordinary timing saved many from being killed. Firefighters were initially told that a full night shift of workers was in the plant and emergency services arrived ready to search for victims. But the company manager arrived to say he had cancelled the night shift because it was a long weekend. “I’d be dead if I had been working in my office,” said John Ringland, the divisional controller. “I would have either died in the explosion or when the ceiling fell on me. “But I was in Queanbeyan fighting fires.” Bob Allen, the SES executive officer, was sitting down to dinner when it happened. “We didn’t know what had happened and we rushed outside. The explosion threw stuff like roof tiles and tin sheets about 300m in the air. You could see it filtering down.” The blast is thought to have been triggered by an exploding boiler that created a chain reaction. Fire zone commander Bill Lea said police, Environment Protection Authority and fire service experts would sift the debris for answers. The explosion killed dozens of birds caught in the updraught and left to fall to earth. Operations commander Steve Pearce said the explosion was heard 20km away. The catastrophe is another savage blow to Gunnedah where, in recent years mines and an abattoir have closed down. The pet food factory was a major employer in the area. The blast followed by the fire left the plant a blackened shell. Two firefighters were taken to hospital with smoke inhalation but the most damage was done to the area’s confidence. The plant was valued at $8 million and the resulting damage to nearby houses will push the reconstruction bill well past $10 million.

UPDATE Employee error may have caused boiler explosion; July accident in Rocky Mount killed 1 man
Safety inspectors reached their conclusion after a six-month probe into events at Ronile, a yarn-dyeing factory, but a company official disagrees. 
By MIKE ALLEN THE ROANOKE TIMES 
State safety inspectors have concluded that employee error most likely caused the boiler explosion that killed a man at a Rocky Mount yarn-dyeing factory last July. But company officials at Ronile question that finding, saying the inspectors’ theory does not explain what ignited the blast. “The individuals involved did not do something unsafe that caused this,” said Phillip Essig, Ronile’s chief executive officer. “I don’t think that they should feel that there’s any blame on them.” Inspectors with the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry reached their conclusion after a six-month probe into the July 24 explosion at Ronile. John Lloyd Gregory Jr., 48, of Collinsville, died July 26 at the University of Virginia Medical Center burn unit as a result of first-, second- and third-degree burns over 80 percent of his body. Gregory was a contractor with Martinsville firm Prillaman & Pace. The inspectors found that Ronile did not commit any safety violations related to the explosion and recommended no citation against the company, according to documents obtained by The Roanoke Times through the Freedom of Information Act. Everyone working to repair the boiler was qualified to do so, the documents say. Ronile employee Jeff Jones was burned on his head and arms in the blast but survived. According to labor department documents, as Ronile employees tried to fix the malfunctioning boiler that day, they inadvertently created a hazard that led to the explosion. Investigators say they think the accident occurred because employees working on the boiler bypassed an electrical circuit during a test. But Essig noted that had been safely performed before by engineers who installed the boiler in 2001. “I personally do not believe that it’s accurate to say the test caused the explosion,” Essig said. “There’s some other intervening event here that no one’s been able to identify.” According to documents, on July 24, Ronile called Prillaman & Pace to ask for Gregory’s assistance in restarting a boiler that would not ignite. Gregory arrived at 12:15 p.m. He told Ronile employees that an air valve in the boiler could be malfunctioning. Under Gregory’s supervision, an employee used a jumper wire to apply power to the circuit containing the air valve. But applying power to that circuit also opened the valves that let fuel flow into the boiler – something that Gregory and the Ronile employees were probably unaware of. Investigators say they think fuel flowed into the hot combustion chamber. Unaware of the danger, Gregory and several of the Ronile workers stood behind the boiler, looking over technical drawings. About five minutes after the test, the fuel inside the boiler exploded. All of the Ronile employees but Jones escaped unharmed. As Gregory ran for an exit, he was covered with 480-degree lubricating oil that sprayed from the damaged boiler. He made it outside the factory, but not before he had been critically burned. Thousands of gallons of the superheated oil poured into the factory, igniting fuel that was also leaking and erupting into a blaze in the boiler room. It took Franklin County firefighters more than an hour to put out the fire, while environmental cleanup crews scrambled to block a flood of chemicals from pouring into the nearby Pigg River. The destruction of equipment, damage to the building and temporary loss of manufacturing capacity will ultimately cost the company more than $1 million, Essig said. It’s standard for an electrician to test a circuit by isolating it, Essig said. Once the test began, a 20-second interval should have passed before the fuel valves opened. While it’s unclear whether Gregory knew about the 20-second interval, all the witnesses present said the air valve test didn’t last that long, Essig said. A South Carolina engineering firm has conducted tests on the boiler’s parts and computer system to see if anything malfunctioned, but so far the tests have been inconclusive, Essig said. Gregory, a 30-year employee at Prillaman & Pace, had a reputation for boiler expertise that earned him regular calls from dozens of companies in Virginia and North Carolina, said his father, retired Martinsville Fire Chief John Gregory. “He was a mechanical genius, even when he was a little fellow,” the elder Gregory said. His son’s interest in Erector Sets and the workings of machines led to a part-time job at Prillaman & Pace while he attended Martinsville High School. The contracting firm hired him full time as soon as he graduated. The family has not decided whether to take legal action. Gregory’s family is still struggling to cope with the loss. “We’ve not reached closure on this thing, not by any means,” the elder Gregory said. The family needs to know exactly what happened the day of the accident, he said. “That probably would help.” Ronile employs about 350 at its Rocky Mount factory, which has accumulated an impressive safety record in its 15 years of operation. The company had reached a benchmark of 500,000 man-hours without a reported accident when the explosion occurred. 

Explosion rips through Trenton oil field
Last modified at 2:58 p.m. on Friday, January 24, 2003
The Associated Press 
TRENTON — An explosion ripped through an oil field outside town Friday, destroying six 300-barrel oil storage tanks and shooting flames up to 150 feet in the air. No one was injured, Trenton Fire Chief Tom Hovey said. The cause was under investigation. Two workers witnessed the blast at 9:30 a.m., said Mark Harms with Gore Oil Co. of Wichita, Kan., which operates the oil field two miles southeast of Trenton. “The two gentlemen were pretty shook up by the whole thing and we haven’t sorted everything out,” Harms said. The blast sparked fires that also damaged the other two oil tanks on site. All eight of the tanks were 12 to 15 feet tall. The fires were still burning more than five hours later. Hovey said the fires were under control. Because of the oil, firefighters were allowing the fires to burn themselves out. Trenton is about 20 miles west of McCook in the southwest corner of the state. 

UPDATE Philips still working to fix fire damage
Spencer Chin 01/24/2003 5:07 PM EST 
A month after a plant fire of unknown origin caused Philips Semiconductors to halt production of some small-outline rectifiers and diodes, the company said it will end production of certain through-hole parts and juggle remaining inventory until full production resumes in six months. The Christmas Day fire at Philips’ Stadskanaal plant in the Netherlands–the company’s lone production facility for rectifiers and diodes–originated in a back-end assembly area and damaged equipment used to assemble SOD81 and SOD87 packages. The remainder of the 48-year-old plant, which performs product and process development, testing, and quality assurance as well as manufacturing, was undamaged and is operating normally, according to the company. While Philips was able to salvage the production equipment, limited production of rectifiers and diodes in the surface-mount SOD87 package won’t begin until April, and full production won’t begin until June, said Alistair Banham, senior vice president and general manager of multimarket semiconductors. The company will not continue to make rectifiers and diodes in the through-hole SOD81 package, he said. “The decision had to be made to exit certain product lines. We will work closely with our customers and convert applications to use surface-mount parts where possible.” Banham could not cite statistics showing sales of the through-hole vs. surface-mount devices, but considers the surface-mount parts more crucial to Philips’ discrete semiconductor business. The discontinued through-hole parts include general-purpose, fast, and ultrafast rectifiers with BYD and BYV series designations, as well as BZD series zener diodes and BAQ800 series pin diodes. The discontinued parts are available from other suppliers such as Fairchild Semiconductor, International Rectifier, and ON Semiconductor, as well as through distributors, which Banham estimated account for at least 30% of Philips’ discrete semiconductor sales. Availability from other sources factored into the company’s decision to discontinue the through-hole devices, he said. Banham added that Philips will use its global inventory system to monitor existing stocks of both the SOD81 and SOD87 products and reallocate supplies if needed. He declined to speculate whether part lead times would stretch out if supplies tightened. Robert Klatell, executive vice president of distributor Arrow Electronics Inc., Melville, N.Y., said he didn’t think the fire would cause significant inventory disruptions. Avnet Inc., Phoenix, said the devices affected represent only a small percentage of the Philips’ parts the distributor carries. “We expect this will have a very minimal impact on our overall customer base. We were fairly well positioned with on-hand inventory,” said Simon McLean, vice president and director of the standard product business unit at Avnet Electronics Marketing’s Cilicon division. “A general notification has already been made to our customer base via our sales organization; however, customer-specific e-mails will be issued later this week as part of our internal process,” McLean said. According to analysts, Philips’ decision to discontinue making some rectifiers and diodes might be part of its effort to reduce costs by consolidating its product lines and plants in response to tumbling revenue and earnings in the past year. In November, Philips announced it would close its Albuquerque, N.M., fab by the end of 2003, moving production to other plants in the United States, Asia, and Europe. 

Adelaide cement factory alight 
A major fire at Adelaide Brighton Cement in Birkenhead is being fought by 60 firefighters. The fire erupted about 20 metres up a large conveyor belt. Bill Dwyer from the Metropolitain Fire Service says there are water supply problems so several fire trucks have linked up to pump water to the fire. “We’ve also got hose lines running across the train lines and we’ve been in contact with train authorities to ensure that no trains are using this line at this stage,” he said. 

UPDATE Mine Explosion
Three men were killed and another three were injured in a fatal mine accident in Marshall County. A six man drilling team was drilling an air shaft for the mine owned by Consol Energy Inc. at the time of the accident. They were about 1,000 feet underground when the explosion occured. The bodies of the miners killed were taken to a state medical examniers office in Morgantown. Of the 3 injured workers, one is in critical condition with burns, fractures and internal injuries, while another is in serious condition with burns and a concussion. Two of the injured are West Virginia residents, none of the killed are from the Mountain State.

Million dollar Winkie fire to be investigated
Investigators will attempt to find the cause of a fire that caused an estimated $1 million damage to a factory and timber yard at Winkie, in South Australia’s riverland, last night. The blaze broke out in a shed at a packing case manufacturer at about 5:00pm ACDT, and took Country and Metropolitan Fire Service crews about five hours to bring under control. 

UPDATE Ikorodu Factory Fire: Victims Get N12.4m 
This Day (Lagos) NEWS January 23, 2003 
Families of the 31 dead victims of the September 16, 2002 fire that ravaged the West Africa Rubber Products Company (WARP), Ikorodu-Lagos are to be paid compensations totalling N12.4 million, the company’s management has said. WARP’s General Manager, Mr Mum Kwam, confirmed the company’s readiness to pay compensation to the victims’ families in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), yesterday in Lagos. Kwam said the children of the dead victims would also enjoy free education up to the secondary school level at the expense of the company. WARP had earlier in October, 2002 given the victims’ direct families N50,000 grant each for burial expenses. Kwam described the fire incident as very painful and an experience that the company wiould bear for long because the victims were “members of our large family”. He said the victims were among the dedicated and committed hands who served WARP diligently, adding that the company which came into Nigeria in the ’70s, meant well for the country and her citizens. He said the company planned to review staff wages and conditions of service this year, even though its present condition of service compared favourably with what obtained in similar companies.

Fire damages Heartland plant
(Cape Girardeau)– According to Havco Wood Products, a fire started in a silo this afternoon. Fire departments from Scott City and Cape Girardeau were sent to the scene shortly after 1 p.m. No injuries have been reported. The plant is closed today and tomorrow and all workers have been sent home. Heartland News is on the scene. Kate Scott will have a live report from plant tonight on Heartland News at 5 p.m. & 6 p.m. with the latest. 

UPDATE Refinery gas explosion causes NT$4 mil. damage
2003/1/23 TAIEPI, Taiwan, The China Post staff
A gas explosion ignited a fire at state-owned Chinese Petroleum Corp.’s (CPC’s) Taoyuan refinery yesterday, resulting in an estimated NT$4 million in damage. There were no casualties in the early morning fire, which took 30 minutes to extinguish. CPC officials said as the explosion occurred at the refinery’s second desulfurized plant, which mainly produces oil, the mishap will not affect domestic diesel and gasoline supplies. As to the oil supply, the officials said the company has an abundant stockpile. Moreover, they said, the company will make emergency procurement from the Southeast Asian market to meet any extra demand. “New purchases can be shipped to Taiwan in five to seven days,” a CPC executive said, adding that there will be no problems for domestic fuel oil supplies. The blast took place at around 8:00 a.m., sparking a fire and smashing windows of buildings in the vicinity of the plant. In addition to activating the refinery’s firefighting system, fire engines in Taoyuan County and at nearby Chiang Kai-shek International Airport were also mobilized to help extinguish the blaze. The fire was brought under control at 817 a.m. and completely put out at around 800 a.m. The sound of the explosion was heard in areas five kilometers away from the site, jarring local residents in the vicinity. Glass windows of some private houses were also broken by the blast, prompting Taoyuan County Council Speaker Tseng Chung-yi to head a group of people to stage a protest at the disaster site. Tseng asked the CPC to improve its security controls in order to protect property and the physical safety of Taoyuan residents. He also urged CPC management to consider relocating the refinery. On the same day last year, a gas explosion also occurred at the refinery’s naphtha cracking plant. The refinery’s top manager, Chung Wu-nan, said the coincidence was hard to explain. More intriguing was that the second desulfurized plant had just undergone major maintenance and repair work, passing all safety checks. Initial investigations determined that the explosion was triggered by a leakage of hydrogen. But the reasons behind the leakage remain unclear. CPC Chairman Kuo Chin-tsai rushed to the refinery after learning of the incident. Kuo ordered a thorough probe to determine the cause of the explosion. CPC officials said the mishap was very likely caused by human error since the plant recently underwent a major overhaul. Those who are found to be responsible for the blast will be penalized, CPC executives said. 

Boxcar blaze keeps firefighters wary; Chemical potential requires slow attack, but no one hurt
By JILL NOELLE CECIL The Leaf-Chronicle 
Firefighters didn’t rush to put out a fire on Alfred Thun Road late Sunday night. The blazing railroad car was feared to possibly contain dangerous materials. No homes or other structures were nearby to be endangered. But firefighters spotted lines from the car leading to 23 tanks filled with propane and oxygen just about 100 feet away from the fire. “If any of the tanks had exploded it could have been tragic,” said Lt. Danny Perry, investigator for Clarksville Fire Rescue. “At first, it was a very dangerous situation.” About a dozen firefighters responded. The department’s Hazardous Materials Unit was called to the scene as an added precaution. The boxcar was a sitting in a RJ Corman rail yard, where workers contracted by the company had been using cutting torches to cut old boxcars into scrap metal. After an investigation, Perry determined that a spark from the welding smoldered on the wooden floor of the boxcar for hours. Workers stopped cutting at about 4:30 p.m. and the fire was not called in until 11:42 p.m. Perry said the winds Sunday stoked the smoldering fire until it engulfed the boxcar. Firefighters waited more than 15 minutes after arriving before they began to soak the blaze, still uncertain of what could be inside. Box cars, like other transportation vehicles, are required to be labeled with a code for the type of hazardous materials they contain, said Emergency Management Agency Director Steve Jones. This boxcar had no label because it was not in service, Perry said, but firefighters were still leery. “An employee at Quebecor next door told us there were just paper products inside,” Perry said. “But at that time, we didn’t know how the fire started.” Perry said three cutting torches were found inside. RJ Corman representatives could not be reached Monday. It took about 45 minutes to put out the fire once firefighters determined it would be safe to use water instead of another extinguishing agent used when chemicals are present. “We never know what we are going to run into on a fire scene,” Perry said. “We have to be ready for the worst.” 

Three Killed, Three Injured in Air Shaft Explosion Near Mine 
Location: Cameron, W.Va. Posted: January 22, 2003 1:18 PM EST From NewsChannel 8 News:
An explosion killed three people digging an air shaft for a coal mine early Wednesday and injured three others, two seriously, officials said. The workers were about 1,000 feet underground when the explosion occurred about 1 a.m. The shaft was not connected to an active mine. It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the blast at the McElroy Mining Co. operation, however officials were investigating whether there could have been a buildup of methane gas, said Tom Hart, Marshall County’s emergency services director. The 24-foot-wide air shaft was being dug toward a coal seam that is known for releasing methane, officials said. “They use explosives to break up the rock and take it out. They use acetylene torches to cut metal and do work. There could be any number of things that could cause this,” said Thomas Hoffman, vice president of public relations for Pittsburgh-based Consol Energy, which owns McElroy Mining Co. Mercy Hospital spokeswoman Linda Ross in Pittsburgh said a 51-year-old worker was in serious condition with second-degree burns to his face and hands, puncture wounds and a concussion, and a 23-year-old was in critical condition with second-degree burns, multiple fractures and internal injuries. The third survivor “essentially walked away,” said Terry Farley, administrator of the state office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training. Farley said he wasn’t sure how the three made it out. The bodies of the three workers killed in the explosion remained in the air shaft Wednesday morning in the Navoo Ridge in West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle, Hoffman said. Their identities were not immediately released. The bottom of the shaft was several thousand feet from the active McElroy mine, so the mine wasn’t affected, he said. Operations there continued Wednesday. The workers’ employer, Central Cambria Drilling of Ebensburg, Pa., could not immediately be reached for comment. Company president Jack Williamson was at the site of the accident and phones there were not working, said a woman who answered the phone at the company headquarters. They were the first mine-related fatalities in West Virginia in 2003, Farley said. The state had six mining deaths in 2002.

Fire at Huston-Tillotson
Updated: 1/22/2003 11:57:38 AM By: News 8 Austin Staff 
A two-alarm fire at the Huston-Tillotson College chapel has been extinguished. There were no injuries reported from the gas line rupture and ensuing fire. Fire broke out there just after 11:30 a.m. in the boiler room when a gas line ruptured. Campus officials called the Austin Fire Department when they noticed light smoke coming from the chapel. There was a heating problem on campus Wednesday morning so a boiler repair company was called to fix it. “Well, they say the didn’t break it. They were working on replacing a gas valve. They had removed the bad valve. And as they got it off, they explained there was a poof. Perhaps one of the motors started up and there was a fire. Unfortunately, the fire began in area where the gas shut off valve is located so they rushed out of the building and gas was leaking out,” said Terry Smith, of Huston-Tillotson College. Campus police then evacuated all the students. When the fire department arrived, they noticed the natural gas leak in the chapel and called for a “mayday” to clear all fire personnel from the building in case of an explosion. All the gas valves were shut off and the fire was then put out. Fire officials said there is no danger on the campus. Classes will resume at 1 p.m. because only the chapel building was affected by the fire.

Worker critical following shock 
Tuesday, January 21, 2003 By KATHERINE BLOK The Express-Times 
WASHINGTON — A mid-morning fire on Monday has sent one man to the hospital, police said. A fire broke out at Cebal America on Route 31 about 11:30 a.m. Monday, police said. The building is commonly known as the former American Can facility. The fire started when a factory employee, Ernie Meshach of Lopatcong Township, was electrically shocked, said fire Chief Steve Alpaugh. Alpaugh said the cause of the electrical shock is unknown. The incident is under investigation. Meshach was transported by helicopter to the burn unit at St. Barnabas Hospital in Livingston, N.J. He was listed in critical condition Monday evening. Cardboard boxes and plastic materials in the area where Meshach was working caught fire, but it was controlled and extinguished by the factory’s industrial sprinkler system, Alpaugh said. Cebal America shut down for the remainder of the morning shift, but was expected to resume business for the afternoon shift, Alpaugh said. Representatives of Cebal America could not be reached Monday. 

Fire destroys furniture factory
The fire, which broke out at 8am at the factory located at Jalan Pantai, Pekan Rawang, destroyed machinery and raw materials and could mean job losses for the 150 workers. Seventeen firemen in three engines from Muar and Tangkak, led by officer-in-charge Che Sahari Abdullah, took about 40 minutes to put out the blaze. Muar Fire and Rescue Department chief R. Murugan said firemen managed to save one block of the building while two others were razed. He said investigation on the cause of the fire was continuing. Murugan said two containers loaded with furniture escaped the fire. Factory managing director, who wished to be known as Tan, said the factory produced dining tables and chairs for export. He said fire started when workers reported for duty. No one was hurt. 

Taiwan CPC/Explosion -3: Restarted Unit After Maintenance
TAIPEI (Dow Jones)–An explosion occurred at Chinese Petroleum Corp.’s (Q.CPC) Taoyuan refinery earlier Wednesday morning, but there was no disruption to operations, said an official at CPC’s industry relations department. The explosion occurred in the Taoyuan refinery’s second residual desulfurization unit, and the fire has been extinguished, she said. There were no casualties, the official said. The explosion was caused by a leak in a flange when CPC restarted the unit after its annual maintenance, she said. The company is investigating the explosion. The official said it is unclear when the unit, which produces low-sulfur fuel oil, will resume production. However, the company’s low-sulfur fuel oil supply won’t be affected by the accident because CPC has sufficient stock and can import the fuel if necessary, she said. The unit can process 30,000 barrels of oil a day, she added.