Industrial Fires & Explosions page 3

Industrial Fires & Explosions Page #3

This page was last updated on  05/06/2010

Recycling Center Fire Causes $200,000 Damage; Mixture Of Trash, Plastic, Wood Pallets Spark Fire 
February 22, 2003
SAN DIEGO — Raging flames and plumes of smoke were visible across the county as a recycling plant in Otay Mesa, near the Mexican border, caught fire Friday. The mixture of trash, plastic, and wood pallets created a fire that burned for more than five hours, and led to $200,000 in damages to bundled recyclables at the Cactus Recycling Center, NBC 7/39 reported. The combination caused potentially toxic smoke, and because of changing winds, a hazardous materials team was called in. Firefighters said the smoke was the biggest risk in this type of fire, which broke out around 11:30 a.m.

Four killed in ship fire 
23feb03
FOUR people have been killed and at least six others suffered burns to when a fire broke out on a ship at the world’s largest ship-breaking yard in western India, police said. The blaze broke out on the ship in the coastal town of Alang which houses the yard in Bhavnagar district, 250km south-west of Gujarat state’s capital Ahmedabad. Three people died from burns and a man died after jumping from the ship in panic, Superintendent of Police Anupam Gehlot said. Gehlot said the injured were hospitalised, some with 20 per cent burns. He said casualties could rise as rescue workers were still looking for people trapped inside. Police said it was still too hot inside the four-deck ship to figure out the cause of fire. Workers noticed the fire while removing oil from the engine. The blaze spread rapidly to the upper portion of the engine room and the crew cabin. Dousing operations were continuing. 

UPDATE 10 CTA workers remain listed in critical condition 
By Michael A. Lindenberger and Alan Maimon The Courier-Journal 
CORBIN, Ky. — The explosion at CTA Acoustics Inc. that left 10 employees critically injured has residents of this small town near Cumberland Falls anxious about what will happen next. The factory, which makes insulation for automakers, is one of the area’s largest employers with about 550 employees, and officials and residents want it to rebuild and reopen. Jim Tomaw, spokesman and attorney for the company, said no decisions about when — or if — factory operations would resume had been made yet, while officials await damage estimates from Thursday’s explosion. Employees who had gathered on company property early yesterday sounded bullish about the prospects for the company to recover, but they remained worried about their badly injured co-workers. ”We’re trying to figure out what’s going on,” said Ray Davis, a mold operator. ”First we want to make sure everyone’s OK and then we’ll worry about our jobs.” Some of the 10 critically injured workers — taken to special burn units at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., and the University of Kentucky Hospital in Lexington — suffered burns on 70 percent to 90 percent of their bodies. Four men were in critical condition with third-degree burns on 70 percent to 90 percent of their bodies at UK Hospital. A fifth man with burns on 9 percent of his body was in fair condition. At University Hospital in Louisville, one patient with third-degree burns on 30 percent of his body was upgraded to fair condition yesterday, said hospital spokeswoman Shelly Hazle. The hospital also discharged two patients. The six patients taken to Vanderbilt were in critical condition with thirddegree burns, said spokesman Clinton Colmenares. Family members of those taken to Vanderbilt said the company has expressed little concern for the workers and offered little support for their families. ”If it wasn’t for Vanderbilt, we wouldn’t have food, we wouldn’t have shelter, we wouldn’t have anything,” said Ray Pacheco, son-in-law of Geneva Philpot, 49, an assembly line worker who was injured in the explosion. ”We’re exhausted and wondering if our loved ones are going to make it through the night,” Pacheco said. ”It’s horrible what’s going on here, and we have to find our own hotel rooms?” At least three dozen relatives of the six people being treated in Vanderbilt’s burn unit are sharing a 40-by40-foot room at the hospital that has 16 cots, said Tom Baker, the father of Robert Baker, 26, an assembly line worker who was critically injured. Baker and the four other men undergoing treatment at Vanderbilt — Arnold Peters, William Daniels, David ”Joe” Hamilton and Jimmy Lemmings — are in critical condition with third-degree burns over 70 percent to 80 percent of their bodies. Philpot is in critical but stable condition with third-degree burns on 10 percent of her body. Pacheco, Tom Baker and Fonda Peters, Arnold Peters’ daughter, said CTA representatives arrived late yesterday and offered to assist the families, but the representatives would not talk to the families as a grop. Because the families wouldn’t meet individually, discussions about the offer of assistance never got started. Tomaw said company representatives were dispatched early yesterday to the Louisville, Lexington and Nashville hospitals and were told to assist the victims’ families in any way possible. He said family members in Lexington and Louisville were appreciative of the support and did not express concerns about treatment from the company. Relatives of patients at University Hospital and UK Hospital declined interview requests. ”I’m sorry people are upset, but we’re doing all we can,” Tomaw said last night. ”CTA has done its very best to help the people who are injured and their families.” He said the company started a relief fund for the victims and that its chairman of the board, Jim Pike, donated $5,000 to the fund yesterday. Tomaw said the company would not meet with families as a group. ”We are not going to talk about confidential medical treatment and confidential medical files in the presence of others,” he said. Tom Baker said the two CTA representatives presented families in Nashville with a list of expenses the company would cover: Injured workers would be kept on the payroll for a short, undefined period of time; The cost of meals and hotels would be reimbursed for immediate families. And injured workers’ medical bills would be covered by the workers’ compensation fund. ut Baker said the representatives left numerous questions unanswered, such as whether personal effects and money lost by workers in the blast would be returned and whether medical insurance would continue for the workers and their families. In Corbin, Melvena Stephenson, who has worked at CTA for 28 years, wasn’t hurt in the blast but said it would take her a long time to recover from the emotional trauma. ”I helped a co-worker who was on the ground with cuts get out the door,” Stephenson said. ”What happened hasn’t sunk in with me yet.” Curtis Cobb, a four-year employee at CTA who escaped without injury, said the devastatin at the plant had shocked him. ”I can’t believe what’s happened,” he said. ”That plant has been there forever.” Several plant workers said companies like Ford Motor Co. can’t do without the parts the plant makes for its vehicles. CTA production superintendent Darrell Bell, who started with the plant when it opened in 1973, said many of its major customers — including Ford — use a ”just in time” inventory system, and that any prolonged interruption at CTA would affect the carmaker. Ford workers in Louisville have already felt that impact, officials there said. The third shift at Ford’s Louisville Assembly Plant on Fern Valley Road, which makes the Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer sport-utility vehicles, has been canceled because of the explosion. The shift normally runs from 4:30 p.m. to 3 a.m. Production would have been shut down for the weekend anyway, said Rocky Comito, president of United Auto Workers Local 862. Plans are to resume normal production on Monday, but workers are being advised to listen to media reports for updates. Meanwhile, CTA workers began registering for unemployment benefits to be used should their jobs be lost for an extended period of time. Corbin Mayor Scott Williamson said he’s confident the city and state can work together to keep CTA. ”We’re going to do everything we can to help,” Williamson said. ”We’re lucky here to have a diversified employment base, and low unemployment, but 550 jobs are very important to us.” Norma Parks, whose Corbin diner has delivered lunches to the CTA plant since it opened 30 years ago, said the tragedy has affected the whole town. ”Everyone’s more or less still in shock,” Parks said. ”We’re wondering if they’ll move back in.” Staff writers David Goetz and Mark Pitsch contributed to this story. 

UPDATE BNFL fined $123,750 
By R. Cathey Daniels Oak Ridger staff 
BNFL Inc. has been issued a civil penalty of $123,750 by the Department of Energy’s office of Price-Anderson Enforcement. The penalty is for circumstances surrounding the July 25, 2001, and June 27, 2002, tube bundle fires at the Oak Ridge K-25 site, where BNFL holds the DOE contract to decontaminate and decommission three buildings, K-29, K-31 and K-33. “We don’t know whether or not we’re going to appeal,” said Norman Hammitt, BNFL spokesman. “We will look at the situation and decide within the 45-day time frame. The company has 45 days to respond to the DOE action. Hammitt said the incidents did not result in human injury or intake of contaminants or harm to the environment or the public. Hammitt also pointed out that the incidents resulted in little equipment damage. “We think that speaks well of our safety program,” said Hammitt, who noted converter disassembly operations have been “voluntarily” shut down since the June incident, and only recently restarted on Feb. 4. A Feb. 4 letter from DOE to BNFL concerning the assessment of the penalty cited quality assurance issues affecting nuclear safety. “Of particular concern is the repetitive nature of the types of nuclear safety compliance violations seen in the three tube bundle fires that have occurred over the last 2.5 years,” wrote Stephen M. Sohinki, director of the Price-Anderson enforcement office. “The violations involve weakness in the BNFL work process controls including, 1) development of Enhanced Work Planning (EWP) documentation, 2) adherence to EWP requirements during performance of work activity, and 3) proper use of personnel protective equipment.” Sohinki also stated: “Š multiple opportunities existed for BNFL to correct known deficiencies with its work practices over the past 2.5 years through either its own assessment activities or through external oversight Š . “However BNFL failed to correct known deficiencies Š . Specifically, deficiencies in BNFL work practices related to 1) hazard identification and control, 2) worker knowledge of EWP conte nt 3) emergency response and 4) corrective action management Š .” BNFL is the United States subsidiary of British Nuclear Fuels. The company signed a $278 million contract with DOE in 1997, and is expected to complete work at the K-25 site in 2004. Steven Wyatt, DOE’s local spokesman, had no comment Friday regarding the civil penalty. DOE headquarters in Washington could not be reached for comment. 

UPDATE Probe continues into barge explosion
VERENA DOBNIK, Associated Press February 23, 2003 
NEW YORK — A badly burned survivor of Friday’s deadly explosion and fire at an oil storage depot told police he heard a strange noise coming from the pumps just before the blast. Frank Scandariato, an Exxon Mobil Corp. worker, was in a shack that contained equipment allowing him to shut down the operation when he stepped out to look for the source of the noise, a police official familiar with the investigation said yesterday. “Next thing he knew, he was getting blown to wherever he got blown to,’’ said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The Staten Island explosion and resulting fire, on a barge unloading gasoline at the Exxon Mobil depot, killed two people, shook surrounding areas and sent black smoke billowing over the city skyline. The blast also raised terrorism fears, but officials said there was no evidence suggesting it was anything but an accident. Police said they were looking into a pump malfunction as a possible cause. The official said a mechanic was called aboard the barge after it arrived Thursday night, and that investigators believe he was called to work on the pump system. Coast Guard Petty Officer Matthew Belson declined to comment on whether the investigation was focusing on a possible pump malfunction. Killed were the barge captain, John Kyne, 52, of Huntsville, Ala., and mate Ford Ebanks, 24, of Miami, according to a spokeswoman for Hicksville-based Bouchard Transportation Co., which owned the barge. Scandariato, 48, of Middletown, N.J., was in critical but stable condition yesterday with burns over 15 percent of his body, according to hospital officials. A small fire continued to burn yesterday at the edge of the pier next to the barge, but officials said they believed environmental damage from the accident would be minimal. “There is no fuel in the water. It burned off,’’ Coast Guard Petty Officer Jaime Bigelow said. He also said the air was safe, but added that officials still were assessing shoreline damage. Exxon Mobil was working on a salvage plan to remove the remains of the exploded barge, Belson said. Exxon Mobil did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Marrero blast injures worker; State Police to visit oil-field service outfit
Friday February 21, 2003 West Bank bureau 
An explosion at an oil field service business in Marrero injured an employee Thursday and prompted a flurry of calls to authorities by alarmed residents who heard the blast, an official said. The cause of the explosion at CST Marine is under investigation by State Police bomb specialists, who are expected to visit the business today, said Don Robertson, chief of the Marrero-Harvey Volunteer Fire Department. Firefighters were called to the company at 1539 MacArthur Ave. at 11:19 a.m., Robertson said, after people throughout the area reported hearing an explosion. Investigators think someone accidentally put an explosive device in a 55-gallon drum that was being used to burn trash, Robertson said. The explosive was identified as a perforator, a pipe-like device used in oil drilling. “The drum was completely destroyed,” the chief said. A worker, whose name was not available, got his arm injured, Robertson said. The man, whose injuries were not life-threatening, was taken to a hospital in a private vehicle. Company officials could not be reached for comment. “It was a hell of an explosion,” said Terry Friedman, a subdivision developer who was about a quarter-mile away from the business and felt the shock wave the blast caused. “It rocked the whole area back here.” 

Officials probe cause of fire at Anvil plant
By: Barry Ford February 21, 2003 
Columbia fire officials and a state police fire marshal are investigating the cause of a three-alarm fire at the Anvil International Plant in the 1400 block of Lancaster Avenue Friday night. The fire started around 5 p.m. and was out within an hour. Fire officials said smoke and flames could be seen for a couple of miles around Columbia. Get the full story in this week’s Columbia Ledger. 

Several blazes keep area firefighters busy 
JASON KUIPER , Staff Writer 02/21/2003 
It was a busy morning for the Council Bluffs Fire Department as they responded to three separate fires. The first fire report Friday came in at about 4 a.m. from Regal Towers, 505 S. Sixth St. A mattress in an apartment on the sixth floor caught fire. The occupant was not home at the time. The fire alarm sounded and the sprinkler system was activated. There was smoke damage to the room and some people on the floor had to be evacuated. Crews were there about an hour and the fire is still under investigation. The second fire was at the Frito Lay Inc. plant at about 6 a.m. Crews were on the scene there for about 45 minutes for what appears to be a fire from overheated cooking oil. When crews arrived, the fire was almost completely out. The plant has a commercial cooking extinguisher system which was used on the fire. At about 7 a.m., crews were dispatched to 3022 Second Ave. for a third fire. A small building attached to the rear of a warehouse there caught fire. There were no damage estimates available and crews were on the scene for about two and a half hours. It is still under investigation, but there were reports that it may have been started by transients in the area who may have started a fire near there for warmth. Assistant Fire Chief Jeff Hutcheson said since the fires were spaced out, crews were not worn too thin. “They were spread out enough where staffing wasn’t a problem,” he said. “If they were all at the same time we would have had to call in off-duty personnel to staff our standing apparatus.” Across the river, fire crews in Carter Lake were called to a house fire at 1021 Shoal Drive around 7 a.m. Assistant Fire Chief Doug Saathoff said the fire was contained to the main floor of the house and firefighters were able to extinguish it quickly. The residents of the house – three adults – were home and evacuated without injury. Saathoff said the house was not a total loss. The amount of damage is unknown and the state fire marshal’s office has been called in to help investigate the incident. – Staff Writer Courtney Brummer contributed to this report 

Fire Destroys Morgan County Business
An early-morning fire rips through a Morgan County business, leaving the R&J Rubber Company demolished. The fire erupted at 2:00 a.m. Thursday and flames continued to smolder the rest of the day. Owner Joel Turner does not have insurance. Turner says the building of concrete sides and metal roofing may not have looked like much, but it was to him and his three employees. Turner says it is painful to see it in rubble. “Eighteen years of hard work, finally beginning to produce and make a living,” Turner says. “You don’t know whether to cry, holler or laugh but we’re going to go on.” Turner thinks the heavy machinery can be saved and so can a few precious moulds to make the rubber products, and he also salvaged one box of customer information. Turner also wanted to thank volunteer firefighters for doing what they could. He went on to say he has no idea how the fire started but it is believed to have been accidental, probably some kind of problem with old wiring. Alicia Smith 

Furniture factory gutted 
Tawau: A hardwood furniture factory was destroyed in a fire at Mile 9, Jalan Sin Onn Tiku, here Thursday. The fire was believed to have occurred while most of the 60-odd workers of the factory, B.T Furnishing Sdn Bhd, were out for lunch. The workers tried to douse the fire on their return but the fire spread quickly. Two fire engines and a van were despatched to the scene with 20 personnel who took about one hour to bring the fire under control despite facing water problems. According to the factory owner, there were 30 machines inside the factory worth more than RM2 million as well as several vehicles used to carry the furniture. He said the company manufactured furniture for export to the United States and Europe markets. The cause of the fire is being investigated. This is the fourth major fire in the district this year, three of which involved furniture factories. One other was a plastic manufacturing factory. 

Warehouse blaze loss is BD250,000 
By TARIQ KHONJI MANAMA
INVESTIGATIONS are continuing into a fire which destroyed a chemicals warehouse, near Alba, causing BD250,000 in damages. The warehouse of the Mashal Chemical Group was completely destroyed along with finished goods and some raw materials it contained. Group chief executive Yousef Mashal said the 100 by 80 square metre warehouse was insured but it will take the company three months to replace the finished goods it had stocked. “The fire destroyed the warehouse completely, along with all the finished goods and raw materials it contained but our factory was not affected,” he said. “The factory is closed temporarily but will be opened soon. We will have to look for a temporary warehouse in which to store our goods until the warehouse is rebuilt. “Nobody’s job is affected as a result of the fire. In fact, we are going to have to hire more people to do the cleaning up,” said Mr Mashal. The fire broke out at around 5.30pm on Wednesday. Fire-fighters using 10 fire trucks battled the blaze for 35 minutes before it was brought under control. Alba provided the fire-fighters with about 5,000 gallons of water to fight the fire, said Alba fire prevention head Ayoob Yousif Al Salman. Mr Mashal said he did not know the cause of the fire and was awaiting the completion of an Interior Ministry investigation. “The factory produces chemicals that are used for the cleaning and maintenance of oil tankers,” he said. “The warehouse contained chemicals that were flammable and highly corrosive.” 

Machine catches fire at factory in Ashland
February 21, 2003 
ASHLAND — Third-shift workers at Tri-State Envelope had to be evacuated shortly after 4 a.m. Thursday after a processing machine in the rear of the building caught fire, filling most of the factory with smoke. Fire companies from Ashland, Girardville and Gordon were called out, but, by the time the first unit from Ashland arrived shortly after the alarm, the fire had been put out with a fire extinguisher, according to Ashland Second Assistant Fire Chief Charles Orth. “I was just getting ready to go to work when the alarm sounded. I was first on the scene and the building was filled with smoke,” Orth said. He directed the evacuated workers to safe locations outside the building as other fire units arrived. Everyone was safely evacuated and no injuries were reported. 

UPDATE Patients who suffered most serious injuries will face long recovery 
By Mark Pitsch The Courier-Journal 
When five patients were brought into the University of Kentucky Hospital burn unit yesterday, four of them with third-degree burns on 70 percent to 90 percent of their bodies, the unit’s patient-care manager knew something catastrophic had happened. Registered nurse Dennis Szczygielski said that in a year about 200 people come into the Lexington hospital with burns, and about half of those are treated in the burn unit. If people working in the burn unit see five patients with injuries this severe, it might be over a six-month period, not all at once. The five were among the 14 workers most seriously injured in an explosion at Corbin’s CTA Acoustics Inc. plant yesterday. Three patients were taken to University Hospital in Louisville and six to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn. ”This is probably the most significant event of this kind of severity that I can remember,” Szczygielski said. All of UK’s five patients and all of Vanderbilt’s six patients were hospitalized with third-degree burns. One UK patient had burns on 90 percent of his body, another had burns on 80 percent of his body, and two others had burns on 70 percent of their bodies. Three of Vanderbilt’s patients had burns on at least 70 percent of their bodies, two had burns on 50 percent and one had burns on 10 percent of her body. They were listed in critical condition. The fifth UK patient had burns on 9 percent of his body and was listed in serious condition. All UK patients were men between the ages of 30 and 55. At University Hospital, one patient was in serious condition with third-degree burns on 30 percent of his body. Two other patients were in the emergency room last night, and their conditions weren’t immediately known. The UK doctors who treated the men were reluctant to give a prognosis for the four most severely burned patients. But they said the recovery process would be difficult and take months — not including what could be a lifetime of surgery on scar tissue. ”We’ll take it a day at a time,” Dr. Dan Stewart said. ”The stabilization will be ongoing for the next couple of days. Each stage with a burn injury will have potential pitfalls.” Stewart and fellow plastic surgeon Dr. Brian Joseph said the five men were admitted late yesterday morning after being stabilized at Corbin-area hospitals. Four of the five patients were breathing through tubes, Stewart said. Because the explosion involved chemicals, Stewart said hospital workers proceeded as if the men were contaminated, but that by late afternoon the men had shown no signs of chemical poisoning. Stewart said the wounds were treated with antimicrobial creams and antibiotics, and that they were wrapped in protective gauze. The wounds will be treated twice daily, Joseph said. Joseph also said the doctors had to cut the burned skin of the men to allow their blood to flow and their lungs to expand. ”In patients that are burned this severe, their body actually swells to the point where their skin is actually restricting the blood flow to their hands and feet,” Joseph said. He said the burns were so extensive that doctors sent samples of the men’s undamaged skin to a Cambridge, Mass., lab. The samples will be used to grow more skin that can be used in grafts. Until the doctors receive that new skin — some will be available in about two weeks and the rest a few days later — they will replace the burned skin with skin from a cadaver for protection, a process that won’t take place until sometime next week, Joseph said. ”There’s a lot of work to be done on these patients,” he said. Other hospitals also treated patients. Baptist Regional Medical Center in Corbin reported receiving 22 patients, 12 of whom were transported to Vanderbilt, UK and University Hospital. Three others were admitted with burns, smoke inhalation and cuts, and the rest were treated and released. Marymount Medical Center in London treated 15 patients; of those, one was transported to UK and another to University Hospital. Of the remaining 13, three were admitted with minor burns, smoke inhalation and cuts, and 10 were treated and released. For several hours yesterday, UK closed its emergency room and was prepared to divert patients to other Lexington hospitals. Based on initial reports that the explosion might have involved the release of poisonous gas, UK had asked the Lexington Fire Department’s Hazardous Materials Unit to set up a decontamination station outside the emergency room in anticipation of walk-in patients affected by the explosion and any residual chemical poisoning, said Jim Wells, a department battalion chief. The unit decontaminated one burn victim who had not been treated at the scene. By midafternoon, after UK had received all five patients, the hospital began preparing its emergency room so that it could continue to take in new patients. Mary Margaret Colliver, a UK spokeswoman, said that she was not aware of any emergency room patients being sent to other Lexington hospitals. 

Huge fire at NYC oil storage facility; Barge explosion on Staten Island ignited blaze 
NEW YORK, Feb. 21 — Two workers were missing and one was seriously injured Friday after a barge exploded while unloading gasoline at a storage facility on Staten Island. By late morning, a huge fire had nearly burned itself out and “things are getting back to normal,” said New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. “WE FEAR the worst” for the two missing barge workers, Bloomberg said. Huge fireballs sent black smoke hundreds of feet into the air after the explosion, which was reported just after 10 a.m. ET. Environmental officials were monitoring the air and water for signs of serious contamination, Bloomberg said. A New York Fire Department spokeswoman said the person taken to the hospital had suffered serious burns. The explosion occurred at the edge of Port Mobile, near the Outerbridge Crossing, which links Staten Island to Perth Amboy, N.J., in the southwestern part of Staten Island. The barge, owned by Bouchard Transportation Co. Inc. of Hicksville, N.Y., contained 110,000 barrels of unleaded gasoline. By midday it had sunk to the bottom of the bay. Fire officials said gasoline burned on water and on land at the edge of the storage facility owned by ExxonMobil, the world’s largest oil company. Most of the fire had burned out after about an hour, and company spokesman Michael Loughran said it appeared that none of the dozens of oil tanks at the facility had burned. NBC’s Robert Hager said the most firefighters could hope to do was contain what remained of the petroleum fire. “Normally you just have to let them burn out,” said Hager. The petroleum facility is in an industrial area, but people on Staten Island and in nearby New Jersey felt the blast and could smell fumes. New York City residents jammed radio and TV news shows, many wondering if the explosion was tied to terrorism. “I’ve been working on Staten Island for the last 16 years and they’ve never had anything like this,” witness James Sugrue told MSNBC TV. “Things have changed a little since 9-11. The first thing you thought of was terrorist activity.” FBI spokesman Steve Kodak said there was no indication of terrorism. However, FBI officials in Washington said they were still examining the situation because a refinery is the type of infrastructure terrorists might target. The Department of Homeland Security “is closely monitoring the situation with local state authorities and other federal agencies as well as assisting in the coordination of the response,” said department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse. After the explosion, a huge cloud of black smoke covered Staten Island and drifted over Brooklyn, MSNBC.com’s Rachel Elbaum reported. “People should keep their windows closed and leave it to the professionals,” Bloomberg said on his weekly WABC radio address. Dr. Sue Bailey, a former health official for the Defense Department, told MSNBC-TV that people in the area with respiratory problems such as asthma should be particularly cautious about breathing any of the fumes. Many Staten Island residents who work in Manhattan were trying to get home after word of the fire broke out. Major roadways and bridges to and from Staten Island were closed as firefighters worked to control the blaze. “My kids left the house because the fumes were so bad,” Staten Island resident Donna Arcentales told MSNBC.com’s Elbaum. “They thought the house was caving in.” Many residents waited at the ferry terminal in Battery Park. “My wife thought Staten Island had been bombed,” said Bill Hopp, an island resident waiting for a ferry. “The first thing you think is, ‘Oh no, another terrorist attack,’ ” said Adam Soto, a woodworker in Brooklyn. “My boss heard the news and told everyone to go home.” The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

UPDATE Textile Plant Worker Burned By Hot Chemicals Dies
POSTED: 12:24 p.m. EST February 20, 2003
CLIFFSIDE, N.C. — A textile plant worker who was burned over 90 percent of her body last week died Wednesday at a Georgia burn center. Carla M. Edwards, 34, of Boiling Springs, was operating a pressurized dye machine at the Cone Mills plant last Friday when the lid was opened, said Mark Franklin, human resources manager for the plant. A mixture of dye, chemicals and water that could have reached temperatures of more than 200 degrees covered Edwards, Franklin said. She was taken to Spartanburg Regional Medical Center and later flown to the Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctors Hospital, in Augusta, Ga., where she died Wednesday morning. Four other workers who received minor injuries were treated and released from Rutherford Hospital. The state Department of Labor returned to the plant Wednesday to investigate. The reason the lid was opened while under pressure has not yet been determined, Franklin said. The plant employs about 500 people. 

Metal shredder explodes, injuring two operators 
Courier-Post Staff CAMDEN
A metal-shredding machine exploded, injuring two men who were operating it, police said. The accident occurred about 2:15 p.m. Tuesday at State Metal Inc. on South 2nd Street. As they fed scrap metal into the electric shredder, an explosion occurred that spit metal pieces at the victims, police said. Warren Brown, 42, of the 600 block of Royden Street, Camden, suffered head injuries. He was in stable condition Wednesday at Cooper Hospital/University Medical Center. The other worker, John Mancini of Hood Avenue in Audubon, was treated at the hospital for minor injuries and released. City police and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration were investigating the cause of the blast. 

Fire guts soap factory
Friday February 21, 2003
A Punja and Sons subsidiary company was razed to the ground on Wednesday night, a day after claims in the High Court in Suva the company had financed the May 2000 coup. Last night, the police force was keeping mum on the cause of the fire, although not ruling out foul play. The Ocean Soaps Company building on Sautamata Street, in the Namoli industrial area, was completely destroyed, causing millions of dollars in damage. The building was over 50-years-old and was home to the Punja group’s soap making venture. The fire started at around 11.30pm from the second floor where highly flammable liquids and cartons used for packing soaps were stored. The fire spread quickly through the building. A mill operator, Ajay Kumar, noticed the fire and raised the alarm. Fifteen workers on the 4pm to midnight shift were evacuated from the burning building. While police have not ruled foul play, the cause of the fire will not be known until National Fire Authority officers clear “hot spots” at the scene. West fire chief Ravuama Ragogo said yesterday his officers were busy fighting hot spots. It could not be established whether the property and its contents were insured. Some 200 workers were stunned to see the building razed to the ground as they arrived for work early yesterday morning. They were awaiting word from management on their future. Police said the premises was well secured with security officers manning the gates on a 24-hour basis. West crime officer Arjun Singh said the building was well fenced and since work inside the factory continued on shifts “the possibilities were slim that an intruder may have gained access into the factory and set it alight”. Superintendent Singh said workers on the night shift and the security officer on duty would be taken in for questioning. Punja and Sons managing director Nitin Punja said they did not have access to the site and as such were not able to assess the full extent of damage. Mr Punja did not say anything on the future of workers in the soap factory.

Fire Causes $5.4 Million in Damage
CARSON — The high winds whipped a fire that roared through a Carson garment business early Thursday morning. It caused more than $5.4 million in damage, but resulted in no injuries. The fire broke out about 1:30 a.m. at the building housing D & M Trading West at 333 E. Alondra Blvd., said Los Angeles County fire Inspector Mike Brown. “We had gusting wind blowing in all directions, so firefighters had their hands full with the fire and also the winds,” Brown said. More than 75 firefighters were sent to the scene, Brown said. When crews arrived, fire had swept through the single-story 60-by-200-foot building, and flames were shooting through the roof, he said. The blaze was extinguished by 2:45 a.m., Brown said. The walls were still standing, but the roof was torched, Brown said, adding that the fire caused $960,000 of damage to the building. All of the manufacturer’s equipment and fabric materials were destroyed, adding about $4.5 million to the damage tally, Brown said. Investigators sought the cause of the fire, which reportedly started outside the building in bolts of cloth and then spread to the structure.

Disaster Strikes Corbin, Kentucky
(CORBIN, Ky., February 20th, 2003) — An explosion and fire at a southern Kentucky insulation factory injured more than 20 workers Thursday, at least 11 of them critically. Elizabeth Ash, a spokeswoman for Madison Heights, Mich.-based CTA Acoustics, said 26 employees were injured and none were missing in the blast at its Corbin plant. The cause of the 7:30 a.m. EST explosion was not immediately known; the Kentucky Labor Cabinet was sending inspectors to the site, said cabinet spokesman Eddie Jacobs. Authorities shut down a 13-mile stretch of nearby Interstate 75 for about an hour because of concerns that a large, black cloud of smoke coming from the plant contained hazardous chemicals. But Jim Tomaw, legal counsel for CTA in Corbin, said there were no hazardous chemicals in the plant, which makes acoustical and thermal insulation products for the industrial and automotive industries. “We don’t feel there is any great danger to the public,” said Joe Bradshaw, emergency management director for Knox County. Firefighters continued to battle the blaze early Thursday afternoon, and fire officials said 95 percent of the blaze had been contained. Tomaw said 150 of the company’s 561 employees were in the plant at the time of the explosion, which occurred near an oven where raw fiberglass is manufactured. The injured, many with severe burns, were taken to hospitals and burn centers, some as far away as 200 miles. Dr. George Liu, a general surgeon at Baptist Regional Medical Center in Corbin, said at least eight of the injured had burns on more than 80 percent of their bodies. “We prepare as physicians for disasters — I have never seen this,” Liu said. “The best thing people can do is pray for these people.” The Corbin hospital said at least 11 patients were in critical condition. University Hospital in Louisville also was expecting patients, who had to travel more than 150 miles by ground ambulance because of poor weather conditions, including fog. Marymount Hospital in nearby London also was receiving patients. CTA worker Rogers Bales told the Times-Tribune of Corbin he was inside the building when the rear of the plant exploded. “Everybody saw a huge fireball, and everybody started running out,” Bales said. “There was smoke and dust everywhere.” A 28-year CTA employee told the newspaper she spoke for 10 minutes to a man whose clothes were completely burned off. The unidentified woman said she stayed with him until help arrived, but his face was so severely burned, she didn’t know whom she was talking to. “I saw a wall collapse, and I hid under my desk,” she said. “When I came out, I saw five bodies lying around me.” Earlier this month, the Kentucky Labor Cabinet proposed to cite the company for an allegedly serious violation involving safety guards on machinery, Jacobs, the agency spokesman, said. A routine conference on the proposed citation had been set for Thursday, but was postponed after the blast. The allegation arose from an employee complaint — the first ever received from a CTA employee, Jacobs said. The company also was cited in 1989 and 1993 for serious violations — conditions that are not intentional but could cause injury or death. Those cases also dealt mainly with insufficient safety guards on machinery, according to agency records. The company settled the citations for $5,600 in all. State inspections in 1998 and 2000 turned up no violations. CTA received a governor’s safety award in 2001 after going three years and 4 million hours without a lost-time injury. Bob Terrell, director of the Corbin Office of Economic Development, said the plant supplies materials for Ford vehicles for heat and sound control. “We’re just saying our prayers for people in the plant who have been injured,” Terrell said. 

Crews letting oil storage fire burn itself out
Associated Press Published 02/19/2003 
BARNESVILLE, Minn. — Crews remained on the scene Wednesday of a fire that destroyed an oil storage facility in this western Minnesota city. No one was hurt in the fire at Dean’s Bulk Service, which started about 8 p.m. Tuesday. Crews decided to let the blaze burn itself out. The fire caused a series of small explosions. Small flames could still be seen Wednesday morning inside of what was left of the building, and plumes of thick smoke were still rising into the air. Assistant Fire Chief Clark Bernier said crews would remain on the scene until the fire went out. Investigators from the state fire marshal’s office were scheduled to arrive Thursday. Clay County Sheriff Bill Bergquist said hazardous materials crews kept the threat of pollution to a minimum, and that there was no chance of runoff reaching a nearby creek. Trucks hauled in sand for crews to build a dike. Owner Dean Tonsfeldt said the storage building was just restocked with more than 146,000 gallons of diesel fuel, petroleum, gasoline and lubricants. “I have no idea what started it,” he said. “I’m feeling pretty tough right now.” Individual barrels of oil could be heard exploding Tuesday night, while bulldozers spread dust and powders to keep escaping oil from oozing into Whisky Creek and Blue Eagle Lake. Firefighters occasionally sprayed water on the east side of the blaze to keep it from jumping to an adjacent building, which contained more oil products. Bergquist said they were thankful the 7 mph southwest wind Tuesday night was headed away from Barnesville, where the thick black smoke could have been more harmful. Tonsfeldt, who said he was at home when he heard about the fire, plans to rebuild. Dean’s Bulk Service also was damaged by fire Nov. 14, 1996. In that incident, the fire struck one of two buildings used for oil barrel reconditioning. No injuries were reported. The cause of that fire was not known. Tonsfeldt, who has ran the plant for 13 years and has been in the bulk oil business for 34 years, said insurance agents were pleased after a visit at the plant last week. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency was called to help with the oil cleanup. Barnesville about 15 miles is southeast of Moorhead in Clay County. 

Second blaze at plant
By KEVAN MATHIS February 19, 2003 
The Harrison Fire Department returned to Tankinetics Inc. Monday to extinguish a fire after papers smoldering in an attic ignited. A minor fire flared up at Tankinetics Inc. on Industrial Park Road about 1 p.m. Monday after stacks of papers in the office area started smoldering, according to Harrison Fire Department chief John Neal. One fire engine responded to the scene with two firefighters extinguishing the blaze in an attic. A major fire damaged the fiberglass plant when the metal building caught fire for unknown reasons about 5:15 p.m. last Friday. With wind blowing a heavy black smoke from the Feb. 14 blaze to the north and east, more than 1,000 residents were evacuated from the Links Apartments and Hester Drive area. All shoppers inside Wal-Mart on U.S. Highway 65 were ordered to leave the store until about 10 p.m., Neal said. Three bulldozers and a backhoe from the Harrison Street Department moved enough dirt behind Tankinetics Friday night to keep water run-off used in fighting the fire from entering into Dry Jordan Creek, according to Street Department director Paul Choate. Boone County Health Department sanitarian Paul Roten has taken water samples from the damned pools but results have not yet been determined. About half of the 52 employees of Tankinetics may be laid off because the building burned was the site of where the company built fiberglass crates for the U.S. and Canadian military. Neal examined the burned out building Monday with Tankinetics’ employees but was unable to determine for certain the exact cause of the fire. The case is still under investigation.

Worker’s call keeps damage from fire to a minimum
February 19, 2003
A Newbury Park manufacturing business burned early Tuesday morning when a machine that makes circuit boards overheated, according to a Ventura County Fire Department spokeswoman. An employee from the business, Multilayer Prototype at 2513 Teller Road, was leaving at 1:20 a.m. when he noticed a machine was glowing red, fire officials said. He called 911. By the time firefighters arrived, flames were shooting up out of the building. Firefighters were able to contain the blaze in 17 minutes and had it completely out by 2:12 a.m. The loss was estimated at $10,000 to the structure and $20,000 to the contents. Officials said the loss could have been much worse if the employee hadn’t taken a last look around before locking the door.

Leak May Have Started Fire At BP Amoco Refinery
(WHITING, Ind., February 18th, 2003, 5:30 p.m.) — A leak might be the cause of a fire Tuesday at a BP Amoco refinery in northwestern Indiana, a company spokesman said. The fire started about 12:15 p.m. CST Tuesday and was put out by company fire crews within an hour, BP Amoco spokesman Scott Dean said. Three people suffered minor injuries, were taken to the hospital and released, he said. “There was no outside impact to the surrounding community,” Dean said. The fire occurred in the catalytic cracking unit, where middle-grade petroleum products such as kerosene and heating oil are refined into gasoline, Dean said. The refinery is near Lake Michigan, a few miles east of the Indiana-Illinois state line. The overall facility can process 420,000 barrels of oil a day. The catalytic cracking unit, which can process 100,000 barrels of oil a day, will remain shutdown indefinitely until the cause of the fire is determined, he said. “The important thing, though, is that the refinery continues to operate, Dean said. 

UPDATE Death toll from North Carolina factory explosion rises to five
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) – A man burned in last month’s explosion at a North Carolina plastics factory died Tuesday, bringing the death toll to five. Three people died Jan. 29, the day of the explosion and raging fire at the West Pharmaceuticals Services plant in Kinston. A fourth victim died Jan. 31. The latest victim, Milton Murrell, died at the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center. Four other patients remained in critical condition. Federal officials are still investigating the cause of the blast, including the theory that an accumulation of rubber dust may have been sparked by static electricity, a small fire or something else. About 130 people were inside the medical supply factory at the time of the explosion. 

Nippon Meat May Fall; Plant Accident
Nippon Meat Packers (2282) may fall after meat plant accident Monday in southern Japan kills worker. Company says late Monday smoke chamber, used to heat up and dry ham and sausage, exploded. Nippon Meat investigating cause and facility damage. Shares off 0.9% at Y1,206 Monday. (KAZ) 

Explosion Rocks Golden Guinea Breweries, 2 Dead, Others Missing
From Kingsley Emereuwa in Umuahia
At least two persons have been confirmed dead and several others missing following an explosion that occurred yesterday in the boiler-room of the Golden Guinea Breweries Plc, Umuahia Abia State. The explosion which occurred at about 12.30 pm left several people wounded with some of them receiving medical attention at the Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia while the state governor, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, who visited the brewery immediately the news of the explosion got to him asked the medical authorities at the FMC, Umuahia to ensure the casualties were given prompt medical attention. Briefing the governor who was accompanied to the venue of the disaster by the Assistant Inspector General of Police in-charge of Zone 9, Mr. Raphael Ige, and the Abia State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Olusegun Efuntayo, the acting managing director of the brewery, Mr. Edward Uhiara, said the incident occurred when the boiler of the brewery exploded. The boiler-room he said, is the engine room of the brewery where water for brewing is oiled. Uhiara could not however give an account of how the explosion happened or what may have led to the boiler exploding at the heat of production. Reacting to the incident, the state governor asked the acting managing director to rule out speculations on the cause of the incident and come out with a detailed account so that the state would know if there was any act of sabotage. He regretted that the incident was occurring in Abia at a time when the state is wooing investors to invest in the state. Kalu further reiterated that although the state is a minor shareholder in the brewery, it is its responsibility to ensure the safety of investment of the state. On what assistance the state would give to the victims of the explosion, Kalu said his administration would ensure that their lives were saved even if it would involve his personal contribution to save the victims’ lives. THISDAY however gathered that the boiler that exploded was installed in 1960 when the brewery was established and had not been replaced 43 years after despite complaints of technical faults reported by those in the brewery section. 

Blast at power plant injures one man
2003-02-16
A gas explosion at the Redbud Energy Project Power Plant near Luther injured a man Saturday afternoon, authorities said. Workers shut off the gas immediately after the explosion about 5:45 p.m. The injured man, whose name was not released, was taken to a local hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries, an Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Department dispatcher said. The plant, located at 20922 Triple X Road, is still under construction and is scheduled to begin operating in the middle of 2003, according to the Web site of the plant owner, InterGen of Burlington, Mass. 

Explosion at Lyttleton 
An explosion in a bitumen container almost cut off the town of Lyttleton from Christchurch. Police set up cordons around the explosion near a cluster of fuel tanks at the Lyttleton port. The Lyttleton Tunnel and the road over the Port Hills were closed to stop traffic entering the town. “We were initially unable to establish what was in the tanks so as you can imagine that caused some concern,” said Inspector Tony Scully. The explosion left flames and thick black smoke pouring from the ruptured bitumen tank. Fire crews spent nearly two hours keeping the blaze from spreading to the fuel tanks. The Coastguard discouraged small boats from using the port. But the port remained open to commercial boats. Workers on the wharf and residents were shaken by the powerful blast. However, no-one was injured and initial concerns over toxic smoke were quickly dispelled. The cause of the explosion is unclear but fire safety and Occupational Safety and Health are investigating.

Coal Gas Explosion Kills Seven in Sichuan
Seven miners were killed in a gas explosion Friday morning at a small coalpit in southwest China’s Sichuan Province. The blast took place at about 9:30 a.m. Friday in a mine in the west of Panzhihua City in Sichuan. The seven killed were the only ones working in the mine at the time of the accident. Though it had all required operation licenses, the coalpit had been closed down before the accident. However, the contractor neglected the official order and resumed operation without any authorization. The boss of the coalpit has been arrested and the police are searching for the contractor, who escaped and is still at large. Work to deal with the accident’s aftermath is still going on and the cause for the explosion is still under investigation.

Authorities Investigating Fire at Howse Implements
An investigation is underway into the cause of a fire that heavily damaged a major Jones County industry Friday night. Sources tell us fire investigators visited Howse Implements east of Laurel today. About 20 percent of that plant was destroyed in a blaze that began during the dinner hour last evening. We’re told the fire began in the paint booth area…it damaged much of the roof there. Other parts of the building received smoke damage. Two firemen who responded were treated for heat exhaustion. Since 1964, Howse Implements has made farm equipment for the U.S. and other countries. About 230 people work at the plant.

Fire guts furniture factory
By Jason Kandel Staff Writer
Thursday, February 13, 2003 – A fire fueled by paint thinner, lacquer and other chemicals caused $3 million in damages Thursday when it gutted a furniture manufacturing company, authorities said. Thirty employees were evacuated when the blaze erupted about 12:45 p.m. at Moderna Inc., 13231 W. Louvre St., said Los Angeles City Fire spokesman Jim Wells. It took 100 firefighters more than an hour to douse the blaze, which shot flames 50 to 75 feet into the air and sent up a black plume of smoke that was visible for miles. Firefighters used chain saws to cut through the roof to attempt to vent the fire but were eventually ordered down when the roof became unstable, Wells said. “It became too dangerous for them,” Wells said. “We do not want to lose any firefighters.” Investigators were working to determine the cause of the fire, which gutted the building, Wells said. 

UPDATE OSHA fines Durango-Georgia Paper after explosion
The U.S. Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Durango-Georgia Paper Co. and charged $258,000 in fines for safety hazards at its St. Mary’s, Ga. plant. The citations resulted from inspection of an explosion at the plant on Aug. 17 that killed two workers and seriously injured a third. As two employees attempted to relight a recovery boiler, an explosion occurred, forcibly scattering steam, hot black liquor, smelt and boiler parts throughout the area. The two workers and a third almost 50 feet away suffered severe thermal and chemical burns. Two of the victims later died of their injuries. “This company has been cited in the recent past for willful violations, which are issued when there is a finding of intentional disregard for worker safety,” said John Deifer, OSHA’s Savannah area director. “In our inspection of this tragic accident, we found two willful, one repeat and 45 serious violations, exposing workers to hazards throughout the plant.” OSHA found the company allowed employees to work at heights of up to 50 feet without providing fall protection, and required employees to stand on a conveyor belt to remove jammed logs without assuring that the machine was first “locked out,” which would have rendered it inoperable during the activity. These workers were exposed to being struck by moving logs, falling from the conveyor or being thrown into the chipper machine. Another fine accompanied a repeat citation for seven instances of accumulation of debris in various locations throughout the plant. The company had been cited for a similar violation in August 2000. One hazard, directly related to the explosion, was among the 45 serious violations cited. The employer allowed workers to light the boiler using a continuous flow of fuel oil for at least several minutes, resulting in excess accumulation of explosive gases in the boiler, rather than following industry-recognized start-up procedures which call for closing an igniter shutoff valve if a flame is not established withi 10 seconds. According to the National Fire Protection Association, waiting at least a minute before again trying to ignite the boiler prevents build-up of combustible gases. A second serious citation concerned exposing employees to injury from falling concrete, brick and glass in areas of the plant that were experiencing structural deterioration. The falling debris also posed a potential threat of damaging lines carrying chlorine dioxide in these areas. Vapors and fumes from the lethal gas can be fatal. Durango-Georgia, a subsidiary of Corporacion Durango of Mexico, employed approximately 900 workers at the St. Mary’s paper mill. Since the OSHA inspection, the company has closed the mill and sought bankruptcy protection. On Nov. 19, Chapter 11 status was granted. 

UPDATE Blast leaves workers shaken, but unharmed; Sparks in dust filtration system trigger explosion at Hickory White
By MEGAN WARD Record Staff Writer 
HICKORY – Sparks from a dust filtration system triggered an earth-shaking explosion at Hickory White case-goods plant Thursday morning. Although the blast shattered several windows and ignited a fire, none of the 350 employees inside the plant was badly hurt. Ken Chafin, who works in the maintenance department of the plant on Highland Avenue and Seventh Avenue, SE, said the problem was detected just moments before the explosion. According to Chafin, a boiler tender smelled smoke at around 10 a.m. and saw sparks coming from the dust collection bin. Chafin said he called his supervisor, shut off all suction to the bin and stepped outside. The explosion came as soon as he shut the door. “It knocked me right off my feet,” Chafin said. “I was thrown about 20 feet.” Chafin walked away, shaken but unharmed. The alarm sounded and employees were evacuated from the building. One worker twisted her ankle on her way out and another was hit in the head by a falling light fixture. Both were treated at the scene by Catawba County Emergency Medical Services workers and released. William Smith, corporate director of operations for Hickory White, said the explosion shot flames throughout the pipe system, producing several fires in the pipes, dustbins and on the roof. Approximately 30 Hickory firefighters worked to extinguish the fires and dampen other dustbins to prevent the fires from spreading. Firefighters from Long View, Mountain View and St. Stephens manned the Hickory fire stations. Smith said the plant had a smaller dust fire a few years ago and recently installed a spark detector and suppressor, which, he said, worked as it was supposed to during the explosion. Smith said part of the plant’s work force will be back to work on Monday and he expects woodworking operations to be running in about a week. The 650,000-square-foot facility, the majority of which was built in 1902, produces bedroom and dining room furniture. Formerly Hickory Manufacturing Co., the company merged with White of Mebane in 1988, becoming Hickory White. Hickory-based Sherrill Furniture acquired Hickory White in 1997. 

Sewer dryer system shut down; Incident fuels efforts to move or close plant
Scott Streater 
The Main Street wastewater treatment plant continues to struggle. The latest problem involves the sewer plant’s experimental $9 million dryer system, which is designed to process solid waste but mostly has been a failure since put into operation more than two years ago. On Wednesday, a pressure buildup inside a conveyor that carries solids to a storage bin blew out some aluminum panels and buckled others. Plant operators shut down the dryer system after hearing a loud noise, and it is expected to be out of operation for at least the next couple days while the incident is investigated and repairs are made. No one was injured in the incident, which occured shortly before 7 p.m. Wednesday. Andritz-Ruthner Inc., the dryer system’s manufacturer, was at the downtown Pensacola sewer plant Thursday repairing the damage. The Escambia County Utilities Authority, which operates the sewer plant, declined to estimate how much the damage will cost to repair. “The dryers are shut down so that we can investigate and check it out to make sure everything is safe,” said Steve Holcomb, ECUA’s water reclamation director. “It’s conceivable we could be back up and running again by the weekend, but we just don’t know.” The Florida Department of Environmental Protection, which regulates the plant, is satisfied that procedures are in place to treat the estimated 20 tons of solid waste that move through the plant each day. The state does not plan to take any enforcement action. The incident is the latest for the aging sewer plant, which has been plagued by water-quality and odor problems. The plant discharges about 13.5 million gallons a day into Pensacola Bay. Hundreds of state water-quality violations in the last several years and the failure of a $25 million upgrade to improve wastewater quality and odor problems have intensified pressure to close the plant, which has existed in one form or another along the bay since 1935. The ECUA board last year appointed a group of government officials, business leaders and residents to study whether it’s feasible to shut down the plant. Critics agreed Thursday that the latest problems justify efforts to remove the plant. “It is a Model T on blocks,” said Lois Benson, a former state representative serving on the 12- member Strategic Main Street Replacement Team. “We keep spending good money after bad. It is never going to be a state- of-the-art facility. This is just one more example.” Utilities Authority officials suspect the latest incident was caused by a faulty sensor in the dryer system that failed to warn plant operators when too much solid material had piled up in the storage bin. Instead, operators kept sending more through the system, and gases from the waste and the heat in the dryer system may have caused pressure to build up to dangerous levels. “That’s just a theory,” Holcomb said. “But that appears to be at least part of the puzzle.” Whatever the cause, the experimental dryer system has been a virtual failure since it was put into operation in October 2000. The system, which consists of two dryers that can each handle the daily load of solids, had never been used in a wastewater treatment plant in the United States until it was installed at Main Street. Less than two months after coming on-line, Dryer No. 1 blew up in December 2000 and was out of service for more than a year. Four months later, Dryer No. 2 caught fire, knocking the system out for several days. No one was injured in either incident. But the failure of the dryer system created a snowball effect in which other plant systems were overwhelmed by the buildup of solids. This contributed to the discharge of heavily polluted water into Pensacola Bay on numerous occasions. The state last year assessed a $503,124 fine against the Utilities Authority for the violations – one of the largest penalties for environmental violations in Northwest Florida’s history. A number of recent upgrades and procedural changes have greatly improved wastewater quality at the plant. But no one’s sure whether the dryer system will ever work properly. “I’m still hopeful,” said Fletcher Platt, executive vice president at Hatch Mott MacDonald, the engineering firm that has closely monitored plant operations for more than a year. In the meantime, solids coming in to the plant each day will be spun in centrifuges in an attempt to remove as much moisture from the solids as possible, and then trucked by Waste Management Inc. to its Springhill Regional Landfill 70 miles east of Pensacola. In addition, Zachary Co. will use belt presses to remove moisture out of the solids and transport it to Escambia County’s Perdido Landfill. “This is certainly a backup procedure and not consistent with what the dryers were intended to achieve,” Platt said. Perhaps a larger issue raised by Wednesday evening’s incident is whether the dryers are safe to operate. Donna Calhoun, the ECUA’s former human resources/risk management director, reported to top Utilities Authority administrators in May 2001 that plant operators are scared the dryers might explode. Noting the previous explosion and fire she wrote that plant workers describe operating the dryers as “baby-sitting the bomb.” ECUA officials insist that the dryers are safe, and that they would be taken out of service if ever proven not to be. “The safety of our employees and the community is the most important thing,” said Nathalie Bowers, a Utilities Authority spokeswoman. “Whatever we know we apply it toward safety in the decision making and operational processes.” 

Mine fire shuts down production at Loveridge Mine
February 14, 2003 
A fire at the base of a sloped mine entrance has shut down production at the Loveridge deep mine in north-central West Virginia, a Consol Energy spokesman said Friday. No one was injured at the mine, which is located along the Marion-Monongalia county line. The fire began shortly before midnight Thursday in the area where the entrance, a tunnel dug from the surface to the coal seam at a sloped angle, meets the coal seam. The entrance is used to take supplies into the mine and to take coal out on a conveyor belt, said Tom Hoffman, vice president of investor and public relations for Consol Energy, a Pittsburgh-based company. Although the entrance is not used to take people in or out of the mine, there were some people near the fire when it began, Hoffman said. He did not know how many. Company officials believe they know the cause of the fire, Hoffman said, but he would not discuss it yet, saying more officials needed to compare notes. On June 22, 1999, an underground fire broke out in the same mine. A skeleton crew of 10 working that day to pump water and methane out escaped unhurt. The mine was sealed within hours. Recovery operations began about a year later on July 24, 2000, and on July 19, 2001, the company announced it was again idling the mine. The company started reopening Loveridge in November and called back more miners in December. Another 200 workers were called back in January, and the mine now employs 370, although production of coal has not resumed, Hoffman said. After conferring with state and federal mine safety officials, Consol has decided to fight the fire from the surface because the Pittsburgh coal seam at that point is known to produce a large amount of methane gas, which could cause an explosion. “First, we are going to pump water down the slope entry. The fire is in a low area of the mine, in terms of distance from the surface. We believe we can get water to pool up and if not extinguish it, suppress it with the water,” Hoffman said. All mine entrances will also be sealed to keep air from fanning the flames. Because the mine will be sealed, layoffs are likely, but Hoffman did not know how many. The mine has years of operation left, Hoffman said in January. The mine, which opened in 1956, produced 4.8 million tons of coal in 1997. “We were in the process of developing a new area for mining that is about four and a half miles away from where the fire is now,” Hoffman said Friday. The company had planned to install a longwall mining system in the new area and resume production by the middle of this year. It was not clear Friday how long the mine would be sealed. “All of these fires are unique, and they take whatever time it takes to put them out. There is very little way to predict how long that will be, at least at this early stage,” Hoffman said. Another fire in the Consol 84 Mine in western Pennsylvania is under control. Miners discovered the fire Jan. 6 in a tunnel used to move miners and machinery along a two-mile block of coal. More than 80 miners were alerted to the fire by carbon monoxide sensors and escaped without injury. An explosion in an air shaft under construction at the McElroy mine in Marshall County last month killed three contract workers and injured three. The mine was not affected and production continued. Consol officials had expected the reopening of the Loveridge mine, along with an expansion at the McElroy mine, to offset lost production caused by the shutdown of several tapped-out mines. Over the last five or so years, the company’s production has averaged about 75 million tons per year, Hoffman said in January. This year, it’s expected to be closer to 68 million. Doug Conaway, director of the state Office of Miners Health Safety and Training, and Joe Main, administrator of health and safety for the United Mine Workers union in Fairfax, Va., were among the government and union safety officials on their way to the mine Friday morning. The UMW will participate in discussions about how to seal the mine, Main said.

Boiler explosion ruled an accident PRINT ARTICLE 
(02/12/03) 
THE BRONX – A boiler explosion that injured four workers at a West Tremont Avenue apartment complex Tuesday night has been ruled an accident. Fire officials say NYC Housing Authority employees were working on the boiler at the time of the incident. They say when the workers turned the pilot light back on, the boiler exploded due to an accumulation of oil in the air. Two of the four injured men are still in the hospital in fair condition. A spokesperson for the NYC Housing Authority says a temporary boiler was installed, so residents have heat and hot water. Space heaters were given to residents while the temporary boiler was installed. Residents say they are very pleased with the way the city handled the emergency. 

Fire at Hickory Plant Injures Two; Fire Forces Evacuation Of Plant
POSTED: 1:26 p.m. EST February 13, 2003
HICKORY, N.C. — Emergency crews responded Thursday to a blaze at a Hickory furniture plant that investigators say involved a minor fire inside the dust filtration system. The fire at Hickory White Furniture was extinguished but the plant had to be evacuated. Two people suffered minor injuries when light fixtures fell and hit them as they were running out of the building. Investigators say there is some structural damage to the building and it is closing for the day. The plant makes bedroom and dining room furniture.

Smoke From Alabama Fire Closes 2 Schools
The Associated Press
Nontoxic smoke from a smoldering fertilizer warehouse fire kept two schools closed and 500 people away from their homes Wednesday, officials said. About 3,000 people were allowed to return to their homes late Tuesday after the fire at Mathis Farm Supply was brought under control. “We’re in the process of making a dike around the site. We’re going to spray water in a straight spray so that it will break up the fertilizer,” Margaret Mixon, a local emergency management official, said Wednesday. The cause of the fire is not known but could have been a cigarette, said Scott Adcock, a spokesman for the Alabama Emergency Management Agency. No injuries were reported in the fire, and tests conducted by the state Tuesday determined that the thick smoke was not harmful, Adcock said. Warehouse owner Nathan Mathis said his workers had unloaded 24 tons of a different type of fertilizer Tuesday morning. More than six fertilizer components were housed in the 8,000-square-foot warehouse, including potentially explosive ammonium nitrate. Some liquid fertilizers also were stored in tanks. Slocomb is in southeastern Alabama, a few miles from the Florida line. 

Man Thought Dead In Fire Turns Up; Firefighters, Plant Employees Couldn’t Find Worker 
MORROW, Ohio — Initial reports that a man was killed Tuesday afternoon in a fire at a Tri-State business turned out to be untrue. Flames were reported at William Oeder Ready Mix on state Route 22 near Morrow, Ohio, at about 4 p.m., WLWT Eyewitness News 5 reported. The Warren County coroner was called to the scene of the fire. Plant workers and firefighters assumed a man who was not accounted for was missing inside the building. After firefighters knocked down the fire, infrared cameras were used to search the site. The search turned up nothing. About two hours after the fire started, the missing man returned to the scene, WLWT reported. There is no word on what sparked the blaze. Stay tuned to WLWT Eyewitness News 5 and ChannelCincinnati.com for updates. 

UPDATE Training lapse cited in mine tragedy
By PETE BOSAK, THE TRIBUNE-DEMOCRAT February 12, 2003 
None of the six men building an air shaft at Consol Energy’s McElroy mine outside Cameron, W.Va., had to take 80 hours of training required of all West Virginia underground miners. The course may have prevented a Jan. 22 methane explosion that killed three of the men – including a worker from Colver – officials in West Virginia said yesterday. “Some aspects of (the training course) would be valuable, methane detection obviously,” said Terry Farley of the West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training. Because crews drilling vertical air shafts are not considered coal miners, they do not have to take the 80-hour training required of West Virginia miners, Farley said. “That training has not been required for people who work at a shaft construction site, like this one,” Farley said. But they do have to take a less-extensive course that includes methane detection. Farley is one of the investigators looking for the cause of the deadly explosion that claimed the lives of the three employees of a Cambria Township company. The January blast killed two Ohio men and Harry P. “Buzzy” Roush III, 23, of Colver, Cambria County, while injuring three others, two of them seriously. There is no disputing, Farley said, that a methane explosion occurred and that a torch being used by a worker ignited the blast. A question Farley and fellow investigators are trying to answer is why the men with Central Cambria Drilling, 173 Municipal Road, Cambria Township, did not detect the methane buildup. Investigators also are trying to determine the source of the methane – did it come from below the air shaft, or from a coal seem the shaft already had passed through? The men were 950 feet underground when the explosion happened. “It’s no secret that a methane explosion occurred,” Farley said yesterday in a telephone interview from his Charleston, W.Va., office. “But methane can be detected. It’s colorless, odorless and tasteless. But it can be detected with a hand-held instrument.” A man who answered the telephone at Central Cambria Drilling yesterday said there would be no comment and abruptly hung up the telephone. The company employed the men building the air shaft when the explosion occurred. When the probe will end is uncertain. Survivors have yet to be interviewed by Farley or fellow investigators. Richard Brumley of Waynesburg, the leader of the six-man crew, was released from a hospital recently and soon may be ready to be interviewed by investigators, Farley said. Benjamin Bair, 23, of Pentress, W.Va., who suffered critical burns, multiple bone fractures and internal injuries, has been released from a hospital but sent to a rehabilitation center. Farley said he does not know when Bair will be available to tell what happened that day. A sixth member of the crew who survived the explosion, Aaron Meyer of Cameron, W.Va., was treated and released from a hospital the day of the explosion. While the 80-hour-course in underground mine training for shaft builders is not required, a crew foreman usually is certified by the state of West Virginia. Killed in the accident were relatively new employees of Central Cambria Drilling: Richard Mount, 37, of Shadyside, Ohio; David Abel, 47, of Belmont, Ohio; and Roush. The most senior, Roush, had eight months on the job with Central Cambria Drilling. Mount and Abel had been with Central Cambria Drilling for less than three weeks. While a completion date of the investigation is uncertain, equally unclear as of yet is what changes may be forthcoming. “It’s too early to speculate,” Farley said. “It’s not unreasonable to believe extra training may be necessary for shaft-construction people. “But, hopefully, we’re getting toward the end here,” Farley said of the investigation. 

UPDATE Condition Improves For Worker Hurt in Chemical Blast 
Feb 12, 05:04
(Providence-AP) — The medical condition is improving for the worker involved in last week’s explosion at a chemical plant in Cranston. Robert Degnan was in serious condition last night in Rhode Island Hospital’s intensive-care unit. He had been in critical condition lacerations to his head and burns in his respiratory system. Meanwhile, federal authorities continue their probe today into what caused last Friday’s explosion at Technic, Incorporated. Investigators surmise the explosion may have occurred with chemicals getting into the duct system at the plant on Spectacle Street. Fire officials say the blast was caused by a worker banging on a pipe to clean it. The explosion sent 18 people to the hospital, including six firefighters. Nearby residents were evacuated for several hours as concern grew that a toxic cloud has been released. 

Fire in France destroys clarinet factory, 1,400 instruments 
By KIM HOUSEGO, ASSOCIATED PRESS
PARIS (AP) – A fire destroyed a French factory on Wednesday that makes some of the world’s finest clarinets, causing no injuries but at least $1.8 million in damages, the company’s director said. The dawn blaze at the Leblanc factory in La Couture Boussey, in the Normandy region, incinerated 1,400 clarinets, along with the entire stock of spare keys, said Annelies Pocovi. “I am completely crushed, we are all trying to comfort each other,” said Pocovi, director of Leblanc France. She said the cause of the fire was not known. The French factory, which has 37 employees, was founded under the name Ets. D. Noblet in 1750, when the flourishing of instrumental music at the court of King Louis XV created a demand for musical instruments. Noblet – one of the oldest continuously operating companies in France – was later taken over by Leblanc Corp., based in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Pocovi said the extent of the damage was still unclear because part of the complex that survived the blaze had been contaminated by chlorine, which is used in making the instruments. She said, however, that specialized machinery to make the instruments was not damaged and colleagues in Wisconsin would provide spare parts, though the company would inevitably be unable to supply its clients on time. “We will be able to go back to work, I just hope that it happens as quickly as possible,” she said. Leblanc Corp. director Leon Pascucci “has given us lots of support, which is very important for the French employees,” she added. 

Fifty flee as Penrith factory catches fire
A copper pipe factory at Penrith west of Sydney was evacuated after fire spread through a large section of the structure early this morning. Fire crews were called to the factory on Castlereagh Road just after 4:00am AEDT. Fifty workers had to be removed from the complex. No-one was injured. Superintendent Ian Krimmer from the New South Wales fire brigade says firefighters worked quickly to stop the fire spreading into the main section of the factory “An area used for storage of files has been severely damaged by the blaze. The fire did enter into the major factory complex but firefighters have aggressively attacked the blaze and prevented it from spreading through the major structure,” he said. 

Fourteen injured in Hungarian factory blast
Fourteen people were injured, two seriously, in a blast at a small factory producing car parts in the western Hungarian town of Szombathely on Tuesday. The blast occurred as a female factory worker was carrying a box of pyrotechnical cartridges, police spokesman Ferenc Szalai said. “She did not manipulate the box, she was only carrying it, so it is not easy to find out why the blast occurred,” he said. Police were investigating the accident.

Refinery oil fire contained by staff
12feb03
A FIRE at the Port Stanvac Mobil Oil refinery was contained yesterday by staff trained in firefighting. Metropolitan Fire Service spokesman Bill Dwyer said the fire started in the heavy oil section of the Lonsdale plant about 3pm. It is understood part of the refinery was then shut down and staff evacuated. The fire is believed to have been caused by a malfunction in equipment which dripped petroleum product on to hot pipes. About 11 MFS appliances and 34 firefighters were sent to the plant as part of standard emergency procedures, but the fire was already contained on their arrival. Refinery firefighters contained the fire using six groundwater monitors. Mr Dwyer said the fire did not affect petrol production. Fire-cause investigators were last night on the scene, but it was not known how much damage had been caused. Firefighters were last called to the refinery in April, when a fireball up to 100m high exploded from the refinery’s lubrication tower, causing a grass fire. 

Explosion shuts down power plant unit
By Jessica Bock Wausau Daily Herald 
ROTHSCHILD – A coal dust explosion Monday forced Wisconsin Public Service Corp. to shut down one of its electrical generators at the Weston Power Plant, the utility said. No one was hurt. The explosion occurred at 10:30 a.m. in the ductwork of one of six coal pulverizers, plant manager Roger Zimmermann said. “We don’t know yet what caused the ignition of the coal dust,” he said Monday afternoon. Unit 3 at the power plant will remain shut down until the cause of the blast is known and repairs are made. The company hopes to be producing power again sometime today, WPS spokeswoman Kelly Zagrzebski said. Four workers were in an area nearby when the explosion occurred, she said. They described the incident as a “fireball flash.” The explosion did not cause a fire. Managers and other company officials investigated the plant’s piping Monday afternoon to analyze the problem and check for damage, Zagrzebski said. The nature of the failure caused the plant to shut down automatically. WPS said it will replace the electricity lost by purchasing power on the open market. The Wisconsin Public Service Commission approves rates charged by WPS for power. “If we have to purchase power at triple what it takes to produce at Weston, that’s a loss to our company and not something customers have to pay for,” Zagrzebski said. Officials called Rothschild fire and ambulance crews to the plant as part of their standard operating procedures after an explosion, although they were not needed for emergency services. 

Power plant fire forces evacuation of weather station crew atop Mount Washington 
The Associated Press 2/10/03 11:59 AM
MOUNT WASHINGTON, N.H. (AP) — A fire in a generator building knocked out power to facilities atop Mount Washington, forcing the evacuation of the summit weather observatory and silencing two commercial radio stations. The four observatory crew members, about 500 feet away from the fire in another building, were brought down the mountain by snow tractor after Sunday’s fire because of the weather, said John Hammer, executive director of the nonprofit Mount Washington Observatory. The temperature was near zero with 75 mph wind at the 6,288-foot summit, tallest in the Northeast, and more severe weather was forecast. On Monday morning, state officials and observatory staff started an eight-mile snow tractor trek to the summit to evaluate the damage and determine whether a backup generator would work. “Blowing snow is our snow tractor operator’s worst enemy,” said Scott Henley, observatory spokesman. “If there’s blowing snow, that makes visibility very difficult.” Snow was to continue through Monday. The peak was the site of the highest wind speed ever recorded — 231 mph on April 12, 1934. Dozens of state, federal and private agencies with transmitters on the peak, including state police, switched to backup generators. Bliss said the cause of the fire was not known. 

UPDATE Federal Investigators Probe Cranston Chemical Plant Explosion 
Feb 10, 03:34
(Cranston-AP) — Federal authorities are resuming their probe today into what caused last Friday’s explosion at the Technic, Incorporated chemical plant in Cranston. Investigators with the U-S Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board has been poking around the site since the weekend. He says the explosion likely was caused by the mixing of two chemicals. They think it may have occurred with chemicals getting into the duct system at the plant on Spectacle Street. Experts are coming today to assist in the investigation. No one has spoken with the worker who allegedly ignited the blast by banging on a pipe to clean it. The explosion sent 18 people to the hospital, including six firefighters. Nearby residents were evacuated for several hours as concern grew that a toxic cloud has been released.

Small Fire Hits Desulfurization Unit At Ahmadi Refinery
MANAMA, Bahrain (Dow Jones)–A small fire broke out Sunday at a desulfurization unit at the Mina al-Ahmadi refinery in Kuwait, but was immediately brought under control, the Kuwait News Agency reported. It quoted a statement from Kuwait National Petroleum Co. as saying the fire, at desulfurization unit No. 41, was caused by a leak during maintenance work, but provided no further details. The incident caused no injuries among workers and didn’t affect operations at the 450,000-barrel-a-day plant, it said. Officials at the plant said earlier Sunday that the No. 3 crude distillation unit at the refinery was shut down for regular maintenance Saturday and that the repair work would continue for one month. CDU3 has a processing capacity of 120,000 b/d. In addition to the al-Ahmadi refinery, Kuwait has two other refineries: The 144,000 b/d Mina Abdulla refinery and the 195,000 b/d Shuaiba refinery. The refineries are run by Kuwait National Petroleum Co., which is a subsidiary of the state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corp. (C.KPT). -By Abdulla Fardan, Dow Jones Newswires

Fire Breaks Out At Dallas Dairy Plant; 4-Alarm Blaze Chars Schepps Dairy 
Story by nbc5i.com
DALLAS — Dallas firefighters are currently battling a four-alarm fire at the Schepps Dairy plant. It is not yet known what sparked the blaze at the Dolphin Road and Haskell facility, or how much damage the fire has caused. However, Chopper 5 captured tall plumes of smoke billowing from the plant, as well as a large hole in the roof, as fire crews worked to snuff out the flames. According to the company’s Web site, the Dallas facility is one of the largest milk production plants in the country, producing more than 5.5 million gallons of milk per month. The dairy reportedly serves more than 1,500 convenience stores, 400 supermarkets and 5,000 food-related businesses in Texas. Stay tuned to NBC 5 News or check back here for further details. 

Fire breaks out at USG paper mill
News Herald reports 
PORTAGE TOWNSHIP — Firefighters from four departments battled a blaze for five hours at the U.S. Gypsum Co. Sunday morning. No one was injured in the fire, however, some firefighters did receive scrapes as they maneuvered around the plant to get to the fire. The fire broke out in the paper mill building of the company where paper is made shortly before 2 a.m., Port Clinton Fire Chief Chuck O’Neal said Sunday afternoon. A bearing in a main dryer vent caused the fire, the chief said. When firefighters arrived, flames were shooting out of the roof of the Lake Street plant. Firefighters used an aerial tower to get above the fire in order to fight it. “It was hard to get at, that’s why it took so long,” O’Neal said. Damage to equipment is estimated at $35,000. “That could go higher,” O’Neal said. “It didn’t do a whole lot of structural damage, but there was damage to equipment and that can add up quickly.” A maintenance crew was called in and the plant was supposed to be running by noon Sunday, O’Neal said. The plant runs 24 hours a day.

Fire rips into Port Hardy; Blaze destroys heart of town’s economy
Jeff Bell Times Colonist; Southam Newspapers Sunday, February 09, 2003
Port Hardy’s largest employer has gone up in flames, leaving 260 people who worked at the farmed-fish processing plant without jobs. Mayor Harry Mose said Saturday the local economy will lose $1 million a month in payroll. Employees on the night shift at Alpha Processing escaped unhurt in the fire that started about 9:30 p.m. Friday as the crew was cleaning the plant. Port Hardy’s five fire trucks and every volunteer firefighter battled the blaze all night with help from Coal Harbour and Port McNeill fire departments. Arson is not suspected, but fire investigators said they haven’t ruled it out. “A lot of people have a hate on for the fish farming industry, but there was nothing blatantly obvious at the scene,” Port Hardy fire chief Les Storey said Saturday. Lloyd Olson arrived at the scene about an hour after the fire started and saw thick clouds of black smoke pouring from the roof. About 15 minutes later the roof gave way and a burst of oxygen fuelled the fire below, Olson said. “It just went insane. There were flames 150 feet in the air, and you could see the red glow all the way across the bay.” An exhausted Storey said, “This fire was as tough as we get.” Battling the blaze was especially difficult because large amounts of Styrofoam used for shipping fish were stored in the building. “At first we fought it from inside, but once that started to burn we had to make a quick retreat and fight the fire from the outside,” said Storey. As well as the heat, the burning Styrofoam produced “noxious crap” that forced firefighters to use respirators and air tanks, and forced police to cordon off the nearby road. But firefighters saved the entire fish processing line, which Storey said is the most difficult part of the operation to replace. He added, however, that “the ice plants and the offices are hooped.” “This is very depressing,” said plant worker Christine Snowden. “This is how I’ve paid my bills for eight years, and now it’s gone.” Arne Saetren, president of the Omega Salmon Group, Alpha’s owner, said the company is intent on rebuilding and getting back into operation as soon as possible. The plant is likely to be shut down for several months. “We’re relieved nobody was hurt,” Saetren said. “Now we think it’s in the interest of the community, as well as of Omega, that we push as hard as we can to get the plant back on line.” Fish due to be harvested over the next few months will be contracted out to other processing plants. Bruce Dirom, a onetime Alpha manager, said the loss of the plant will be widely felt in the town of about 5,300. “It’s devastating,” said Dirom, who recently left Alpha to devote himself full-time to his own business, Hardy Buoys Smoked Fish. Businesses such as Hardy Buoys will be directly affected by the fire, Dirom said. “It was our source of raw product.” Former Port Hardy mayor Russ Hellberg said the plant had been completely renovated about eight years ago to become the largest, most-modern fish farm processing plant in the world. Farmed Atlantic salmon that came into the plant from Omega Salmon Group fish farms could be fully processed in just a few hours, and shipped abroad in about a day, he said. Omega has 24 salmon farm licences in B.C., as well as two hatcheries near Courtenay and two plants for raising salmon smolts. The Norway-based company was recently dragged into the news after the resignation of provincial Fisheries Minister John van Dongen and the naming of Stan Hagen as his successor. Van Dongen was forced to quit his post when it was revealed police were investigating the handling of a fish-farm file. Hagen, his replacement, was then revealed to have received at least $5,000 in campaign donations from aquaculture firms, including $3,500 from Omega. Omega is also the target of protests in Ocean Falls, where First Nations, fishermen and environmentalists are fighting its plan to build a $15-million hatchery. Kjell Aasen, an Omega spokesman who has been in the middle of the protest campaign in Ocean Falls, said the fire couldn’t have come at a worse time. “But we are committed to carry on.” 

FIRE IN FIORUCCI-PLANT NEAR ROME
(AGI) – Rome, Italy, Feb. 8 – This night a vast fire broke out inside a Fiorucci’s factory in via Cesare Fiorucci 11 of Santa Colomba in Pomezia near Rome. The fire, which is still burning, destructed almost the entire factory. It was probably a short circuit inside the electric system of the production and cooking part where the meat is made into sausages to cause the fire that in this case should be broken out in the plant’s basement. The fire threatened to involve also the next factories, but the firemen’s work, who used about 20 fire- engines, limited the damages. (AGI) 

Explosion rocks Pakistani nuclear facility
There has been an explosion near a Pakistani nuclear facility on the outskirts of the capital, Islamabad. One person has been killed and another critically injured. The blast occurred at the liquid nitrogen gas plant a teaching centre within the premises of the Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Technology (Pinstech). A senior Pinstech official told the BBC that the accident had not affected the institute’s research reactor and there was no call for alarm. UPDATE Federal Investigators Probe Cranston Plant Explosion; One Plant Worker Remains Hospitalized 
POSTED: 2:20 p.m. EST February 8, 2003 
CRANSTON — Federal investigators probed the scene of a chemical plant explosion Saturday, searching for the cause of the blast and a fire that sent 12 employees to the hospital. Employees from Technic Inc. and six emergency workers went to Rhode Island Hospital following the Friday morning explosion. All were decontaminated because officials feared they had been exposed to chemicals. One of the injured, Robert Degnan, 28, remained in critical condition at the hospital Saturday. The others were treated and released. Representatives from federal agencies including the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the Environmental Protection Agency toured the site Saturday morning, gathering preliminary data. Technic produces the chemicals and equipment used in electroplating — the process in which thin layers of metal are deposited on products such as electronics components and jewelry. Irv Rosenthal, a member of the Chemical Safety Board, said it was not immediately clear what caused the explosion, nor whether chemicals had been released. “Until EPA is finished analyzing the air and water samples that were taken, there is no evidence as to what toxic materials may have been released,” Rosenthal said. While officials initially feared potassium cyanide in the building might have combined with acid to produce a lethal gas, Rosenthal said the only evidence of cyanide exposure comes from the medical reports on Degnan, the critically injured employee. Those showed trace amounts of cyanide, he said. Local fire officials said the explosion might to have been triggered when an employee banged on a pipe in an effort to clear it. That is one theory, Rosenthal said Saturday, but it does not explain why striking the pipe would have had that effect. “It is not clear what caused the accident,” he said. Following the explosion, police evacuated an estimated 100 to 200 people in a half-mile radius around the mostly residential neighborhood surrounding the plant. The residents were allowed to eturn to their homes about four hours later. Technic employs 500 people worldwide, according to the company’s Web site. Its headquarters is in Cranston, and it has plants in Anaheim, Calif., and Plainview, N.Y. Technic was named in connection with a fatal explosion in New Jersey in 1995. Five workers were killed and more than 40 injured in an explosion at a Napp Technologies, Inc., plant in Lodi, N.J. Napp had been blending a volatile mix of chemicals for Technic at the time. A similar job had been conducted in 1992 without incident. Four workers also were hurt in 1980 while blending the same Technic product in Waterbury, Conn. 

UPDATE Plant reports on fire’s effects; Chemical emissions worry safety activists
Friday February 07, 2003 By Mary Swerczek River Parishes bureau 
Seventy tons of sulfur dioxide were released during a Jan. 29 fire in the coker unit at Norco’s Orion Refining Corp., and almost 2 tons of the chemical have been burned off and released through the plant’s smokestacks every day since then, according to a report the company filed this week with the state. Some environmentalists are questioning how the releases will affect people who live near the plant. The fire caused minor injuries to two employees and sent plumes of black smoke over St. Charles Parish. It forced the company to shut down more than half of the plant last week. The main fire broke out at 10:50 a.m. and was extinguished at 1:30 p.m., says a report Orion filed Wednesday with the state Department of Environmental Quality. A second fire burned in a controlled manner until it burned itself out two days later, the report says. Nineteen tons of sulfur dioxide, a chemical linked to various respiratory ailments, were released in the fire, the four-page report says. Another 51 tons were released while the west side of the plant was being shut down. Because of the fire, some gases are being diverted to a flare and will continue to be burned off until Feb. 21, the report says. The plant continues to release about 160 pounds of sulfur dioxide hourly through that flare, the report says. “It’s something to be concerned about, but it’s better than the alternative: uncontrolled burning,” said Wayne Desselle, a DEQ environmental scientist who was at Orion the day after the fire. He said the flare is high above the ground and that the wind will help disperse any released chemicals. Industrial plants use flares to burn off chemicals, which are then released through smokestacks. The report says Orion employees and contractors took samples in the surrounding neighborhoods immediately after the fire and that the samples didn’t register any readings above the monitors’ detection limits. Desselle said he didn’t know what those limits are. But environmentalists are worried about sulfur dioxide’s effects on the refinery’s nighbors. “They have been living next to a sulfur dioxide factory,” said Anne Rolfes, president of Louisiana Bucket Brigade, which distributes air-monitoring buckets to communities near chemical plants and refineries. She cited an informal health survey of 74 New Sarpy residents last year that found that residents reported asthma rates about three times higher than the national average and chronic bronchitis at five times the national average. And another environmentalist worried about the effectiveness of flares. “There’s increasing evidence that flares don’t work as well as they’re supposed to,” said Eric Schaeffer, the Environmental Protection Agency’s former director of civil enforcement and current director of the private Environmental Integrity Project. He said the effectiveness many plants claim is based on perfect laboratory conditions that don’t take into account factors such as weather. Orion officials still don’t know what caused the fire, but their report says they will know within 45 days of the fire, a requirement of a settlement Orion entered into last year with the DEQ. That settlement stemmed from numerous violations DEQ officials found at the plant. In a March 2001 audit, DEQ inspectors said Orion’s operations failed to meet the Louisiana Environmental Quality Act’s water, air, hazardous waste and solid waste provisions. A company spokeswoman said Thursday that she couldn’t comment. DEQ officials have been in touch with Orion officials every day or every other day since the incident, said Mike Algero, a state Department of Environmental Quality regional manager. “We’re still investigating,” Algero said. “This will be ongoing for a while.”

Fire Causes $1M Damage To Chemical Plant Warehouse; Teenager Arrested
February 7, 2003
NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas — Fire destroyed the Tem-Tex Solvent plant in New Braunfels late Thursday. The blaze, which caused $1 million damage, was so intense at one point that firefighters had to back off and let the chemical plant burn. “We had multiple explosions,” said John Herber, of the New Braunfels Fire Department. Herbert said numerous balls of fire exploded into the air from the warehouse that housed a variety of paint thinners and solvents off Engle Road and Interstate 35. A lid from one of the 55-gallon drums that contain highly flammable chemicals landed on the roof of a home across the street from the warehouse. “There’s actually a hole on the roof,” said homeowner Brian Williams. The huge fire, which lit up the sky, prompted some residents to capture the fiery moment on their video cameras. “The whole sky toward New Braunfels was just lit up in a red glow,” said Karen Nixon, who was watching the Spurs game when she noticed the fire shortly after 10 p.m.. “And you could see explosions. We weren’t sure what was going on.” A 17-year-old teenager was arrested after he turned himself in to authorities several hours after the fire. New Braunfels Fire Marshal Darren Brinkkoeter said the teenager admitted to setting the warehouse on fire. “The best that we can get from the statement is he was in the back and he set the fire,” Brinkkoeter said. “Possibly a lighter.” Brinkkoeter said the teenager was charged with arson and bodily injury since a firefighter suffered smoke inhalation. Two nearby homes were evacuated. Hazmat crews are at the scene Friday to control any possible chemical runoff. 

Transfer Station Fire
Investigators are looking for the cause of an overnight fire that destroyed the Madison County transfer station in the town of sullivan . The plant was nearly burned to the ground by the time firefighters were able to get there. The transfer station will remain closed, people who need to drop things off are being redirected to the town of Lincoln’s transfer station. 

Girl dies, 17 injured in boiler explosion 
Published on Feb 8, 2003 
A large boiler at a garment-dyeing factory in Samut Prakan exploded early yesterday, leaving a girl dead and 17 other people injured, three of them seriously, police said. The explosion blew out part of the factory’s roof and walls. Its impact destroyed large objects 30 metres away. A factory wall collapsed onto a nearby dormitory for factory workers, killing 8-year-old Rapiporn Chakklang, a daughter of one of the workers. Her father, 28-year-old Niphon Chakklang, was critically injured in the explosion, at the PP Express Co’s factory on Thepharak Road in Samut Prakan’s Bang Phli district. Two other seriously wounded workers were identified as Kamla Kluebsungnoen, 30, and Paitoon Yuirosong, 31. All three sustained multiple burns and wounds caused by flying pieces from the impact. They remained in intensive care yesterday. Among the other victims was a six-year-old boy. Sawai Rojanasuparerk, a senior Industry Ministry official in Samut Prakan, said the boiler – weighing 10 tonnes and with a capacity to hold 10,000 litres of water – had been installed without permission. He believes its safety valve malfunctioned and led to overheating and explosion. He said a police complaint had been filed against Somchai Rojpanit, managing director of the company, for illegal modification of the factory. Legal action would also be taken against company executives for recklessness leading to death and injury. Factory manager Amnuay Intarasmee said the boiler had been installed two weeks ago and was on a test run. He said that at the time of the explosion there were more than 30 night-shift workers in the factory. Prasert Ritsomjit, an injured worker, said that there was a loud whistle from the boiler before the explosion. “Then vapour was all over the place. Dust and pieces from the building flew around. I lost my hearing for a brief period,” he said. Thapabut Chomsevi, director-general of the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare, said the factory had failed to train any safety specialists, as required by law. Those responsible could face maximum jail terms of six months and fines of up to Bt20,000, he said. Adul Iamtha, an official at the Bang Phli Social Security Office, said the agency would cover medical costs for the injured workers up to a maximum of Bt35,000 each. The office will also pay compensation to the dead girl’s family although it was not required by law to do so, he added. Samut Prakan Governor Sura-at Thongniramon said the provincial authorities would initially pay Bt2,000 in aid for the families of each victim and would co-host the dead girl’s funeral. Chamnan Himakhun 

Explosion at Rhode Island Chemical Plant Injures 12 People 
Friday February 07, 2003 8:51pm 
Cranston, R.I. (AP) – A pipe exploded at a chemical plant Friday, starting a raging fire that sent acrid smoke billowing through the building. Twelve people were injured, one critically. The fire at the Technic manufacturing facility burned so intensely that pipes in the ventilation system melted, and firefighters used fans to clear smoke. “We couldn’t see from one end of the building to the other,” Deputy Fire Chief Anthony Mastantuono said. As many as 200 people were evacuated from the neighborhood for about four hours. Authorities said the pipe exploded after a worker banged on it with a hammer in an attempt to clear it. The worker was severely injured and in critical condition. The other 11 were treated for chemical exposure at Rhode Island Hospital and released, hospital spokeswoman Nancy Cawley said. Hazardous materials teams were at the scene, but it was unclear if any chemicals had been released. Cranston-based Technic produces chemicals used to plate equipment with metallic layers, such as jewelry. Mastantuono said silver nitrate and nitric acid were used at the plant, and Mayor Stephen Laffey cited potassium cyanide. The latter chemical – if mixed with acid – could produce deadly hydrogen cyanide gas. Company Vice President Dave Weisberg said he was unaware any chemicals had been released, and that the plant’s stainless steel chemical drums and process tanks were intact. “I was in the building when the smoke was coming out,” he said. “I didn’t smell anything other than burning plastic (from the ventilation system).” 

UPDATE Park blast a ‘freak accident’
By Nikki Todd 06feb03
A pyrotechnics explosion which severely burned three men at Movie World on the Gold Coast is believed to have been a freak accident. The three men are recovering in the Royal Brisbane Hospital (RBH) after suffering serious burns in an explosion at the theme park’s pyrotechnics compound yesterday. An RBH spokeswoman said their conditions remained unchanged today, with two men dangerously ill in the intensive care unit and a third man stable in the burns unit. The men were mixing raw chemicals to produce pyrotechnics for the theme park’s Police Academy show, as per usual practice, when the accident occurred. Warner Village Theme Parks chief operating officer Steve Peet said it “sounded like” the incident may have been a freak accident as all three victims were experienced staff. “One of the staff members in fact had many, many years of experience in the film industry prior to when Movie World was built,” Mr Peet told AAP. “He has been here with Warner Brothers Movie World Theme Park and Studios for the entire 12 years of its operation. “We did speak to him prior to being transported with the ambulance and he was absolutely stunned that such a thing would have happened – he had absolutely no idea how it happened. “What they were doing was nothing different to what they have been doing for the last 12 years.” An investigation led by Queensland’s Department of Natural Resources and Mines (DNRM) has begun, and includes a police accident investigation squad and workplace health and safety officers. DNRM acting chief inspector of explosions Geoff Downs said he did not expect a conclusion to the investigation for several weeks. “It is very early to put a conclusion onto it, but it is certainly a very serious accident,” Mr Downs said. “It is a hazardous industry and these are explosives. “When things are done properly it is all very good fun, but what we need to ensure is that people are safe while doing these activities.” Mr Downs said four investigators were on site and were yet to determine which chemicals were being used at the time of the explosion. The investigators would interview the injured men once they had recovered. Movie World will appoint an independent investigator to head an internal inquiry into the accident. The pyrotechnics compound, which contains chemicals and prepared pyrotechnics, remained cordoned off as on-site investigations continued. Activities at the theme park have not been affected. 

Firefighters were busy overnight battling two different fires
Investigators are looking into the cause of an overnight waehouse fire in northeast Houston. Firefighters say the sprinkler system saved a uniform warehouse in northeast Houston. The blaze broke out overnight on Railwood and Railspur. When firefighters got there, they found a bunch of rags on fire in the front of the building. They went in and quickly put the fire out. The plant was closed at the time. Investigators suspect the fire was an accident.

ALERT AT FACTORY 
16:30 – 05 February 2003 
Firefighters were called following a major alert at a battery factory in Market Harborough when fire broke out in a lead preparation plant. Three fire engines, a fire support vehicle and an ambulance were called to Tungstone Batteries in Lathkill Street, shortly before 10 am. A police spokesman at the scene said the fire had been contained in the lead wash down pit. No-one was injured. 

Movie World explosion injures three
Three experienced pyrotechnic workers suffered serious burns to their faces, bodies and hands in a powerful explosion at the Warner Roadshow Studios on the Gold Coast. One of the men was in a critical condition with burns to more than 60 per cent of his body and the others were described as serious. All were taken to the Royal Brisbane Hospital burns unit for treatment. The explosion occurred at about 1pm (AEST) in a pyrotechnic compound which services the movie studio and the adjacent Movie World theme park. The men were building standard fireworks for use in either a stunt show or on the new Peter Pan movie. The force of the blast caused the roof of the isolated cement building to blow off as it was designed to do. Warner Village Theme Parks CEO Steve Peet said there appeared to have been a single explosion and the three men were the only occupants of the building. “The burns were mainly to the upper parts of their torso area and around the hands and face,” he said. “The three were able to walk into the ambulance themselves although they were badly burned. They were coherent, they are very brave.” Mr Peet described the men as experienced in pyrotechnic assembly and said one of the injured was a well respected veteran in the industry. “They were building the units we use either for the studio production or our theme park area,” said. “There is standard pyro they build and we are led to believe it is nothing new or anything they would have been unfamiliar with.” The pyrotechnics department provides special effects for movies as well as the Police Academy Stunt Show at Movie World. Facilities at the film studio are currently being used for the live action version of Peter Pan directed by PJ Hogan. The cause of the explosion is being investigated by the Department of Mines and Energy. Mr Peet said the pyrotechnics compound was recently inspected for safety and it is the first incident in the 12-year history of the facility.

Fire halts production at Boksburg mine 
February 03, 2003, 09:29 PM 
Production at one of the shafts of East Rand Proprietary Mines (ERPM) in Boksburg has been halted after a fire broke out at the weekend. Mine management said that specialised fire fighting teams had sealed off the underground fire at the Far East Vertical Shaft. The fire started between levels 70 and 71, about 2 300m underground. Ilja Graulich, mine spokesperson, said no production was taking place at the time and no one was injured. The shaft produced some 8,4kg of gold per day and it was expected that the sealing off would result in a drop of around 60% in production. Workers affected by the halting of production would be redeployed to other shafts during the week. ERPM is wholly owned by Crown Gold Recoveries (Pty) Ltd. – Sapa 

Propane Explosion in Chico Forces Evacuation of 500 
Hundreds of people in Butte County were evacuated after a propane tank trailer overturned and exploded Sunday morning. At about 9:30 a.m., a truck pulling propane tanks was trying to turn around at Midway and Speedway avenues in Chico when one of the trailers tipped over. Two tanks carrying 9,400 gallons of liquid propane ruptured and exploded. The blaze quckly spread to two adjacent businesses. The truck driver, James Gowen of Sacramento, told the the California Highway Patrol he was delivering a load and took a wrong turn. As he tried to turn around, he heard a strange noise. Gowen jumped out of his truck, only to have a sudden explosion knock him to the ground. With approximately 3,000 gallons of propane in one the flaming tanks, firefighters decided to let the gas burn off. Using unmanned hose streams to pour thousands of gallons of water on the fire, their strategy was to cool the tank to minimize the vapors and pressure. Authorities were particularly concerned about the accident, which took place about a quarter of a mile from a gasoline storage facility. They ordered homes and businesses within a one-mile radius to be evacuated in case of another explosion. About 500 people living near the accident scene were evacuated. For some of them, it would be a long day and night away from home. “They’re saying 200, 250 yards,” said Jean Cone, who lives across the street from the accident site. “If the thing blows, it’s probably going to take my house. No question about it. I’m right on the corner.” The Red Cross set up a temporary shelter for the evacuees, offering them food and and a place to sleep. Some people decided to stay in their homes. Those who did evacuate will not be allowed to go back home until the threat of an explosion is over, probably sometime this morning. No one was injured in the fire. 

UPDATE Driefontein Fire 
Mineweb (Johannesburg) NEWS Posted to the web February 3, 2003 By Gold Fields
Johannesburg 31 January 2003: The management of Gold Fields Limited regrets to report that four employees lost their lives as a result of gas inhalation following a fire at the No 7 Shaft West of the Driefontein gold mine near Carletonville. Management expresses its sincerest condolences to the families, colleagues and friends of the deceased. Measures have been put in place to assist the bereaved families through this trying time and to ensure that the appropriate support is available to them. In addition to the lump-sum and pension benefits that the families will receive, Gold Fields also has in place a special educational programme to asssist the dependant children of the deceased to complete their education. The names of the deceased will be made known as soon as their families have been informed. The fire was first detected through the mine’s gas detection system at approximately 10:30 on Thursday 30 January 2003. At the time there were 762 people in the shaft of whom 618 were immediately evacuated. A futher 136 people were accounted for in the mine’s refuge chambers and searches were initiated for eight people who could not be located. The 136 people in the refuge chambers were all brought to safety within approximately five hours. Rescue teams worked through the night to locate the eight missing people of whom four were succesfully rescued in the early hours of this morning, and admitted to hospital where they are being treated for gas and smoke inhalation. Management expressed its deepest appreciation to the members of the Mine Rescue Services for their truly heroic efforts as well as all of the employees of Driefontein and neighbouring mines, and members of all of the Unions and Association who assisted selflessly in the rescue operation. Ian Cockerill, Chief Executive Officer of Gold Fields Limited said; “Our deepest sympathies go out to the loved ones of our late colleagues in their hour of grief. We also thank our own people at No 7 Shaft West for the disciplined and organised manner in which they implemented our emergency procedures during the crisis. Their actions saved many lives.” A full investigation, in collaboration with the Department of Minerals and Energy, as well as the Unions and Association, will be launched to determine the cause of the accident.

RM1.5 Mil Losses In Chocolate, Furniture Factory Fires
KAJANG, Feb 5 (Bernama) — A chocolate factory – Sweetkiss Food Industry Sdn Bhd – was destroyed in a fire at Bandar Teknologi Kajang Wednesday. A Fire and Rescue Department spokesperson said the 2pm blaze was brought under control two hours later. The machinery and containers for making and storing chocolates and cakes were destroyed – losses were estimated at RM1 million, the spokesperson said. Twenty-eight firemen from the Kajang, Bangi, Shah Alam and Section 7 Petaling Jaya fire stations and the Civil Defence Department helped in putting-out the fire. Meanwhile, a household furniture factory, Khoo Fatt Trading Sdn Bhd at Jalan Sentul Pasar was destroyed in another fire today. Losses in the 6pm fire was estimated to be RM500,000. Twenty-six firemen from the Hang Tuah, Menara Kota and Sentul fire stations managed to control the flames in 20 minutes. — BERNAMA

Lugazi Metal Explosion Kills Two 
New Vision (Kampala) February 4, 2003 Kampala 
THEY imported metal scrap to make a living. But it instead ended their lives. By yesterday, the death toll had increased to three, report Nicholas Kajoba and Steven Candia. An explosion ripped through a metal recycling company near Lugazi town Saturday, killing Ibrahim Matovu and Edward Kiwanuka instantly. It left a huge crater at the scene. The third victim, identified by the Police as Akile, lost both legs in the blast but died 12 hours later at Mulago Hospital. Six other were lucky to escape with minor injuries. Mukono district Police chief Martin Abilu said yesterday there was an explosion as the workers sorted the scrap for smelting at the Tembo Metal Works Company. “The scrap had not been rendered safe by a competent authority. Last year I went to the same company and recovered some ammunition. I cautioned them about the kind of scrap they should buy and use,” Abilu said. Witnesses said the explosive was part of the scrap delivered from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Forensic experts from Kampala, backed by sniffer dogs, rushed to the scene and recovered an unexploded mortar artillery.

RM1 million losses in anchovy processing factory fire
LANGKAWI Feb 3 – About RM1 million losses incurred after an anchovy (ikan bilis) processing factory in Bukit Malut here was destroyed by fire Monday morning. A Langkawi Fire and Rescue Department Officer Ismail Darus said besides the wooden building, about 20 tonnes of anchovy and machineries were also destroyed in the blaze. “A quick action by the workers saved part of the anchovy stock that was ready to be marketed,” he said when met at the scene. The incident was reported at 7.15 am but the cause of the fire is yet to be determined. “All workers managed to save themselves,” he said. He added 25 firemen in two fire-engines took almost 30 minutes to put out the fire. 

18 killed in Sialkot Dry Port explosion
ASKA: Eighteen people, including a Customs inspector and three children, were killed, while more than 40 others were seriously injured in explosion in two containers at the import yard shed of Sialkot Dry Port in Sambrial at about 2:05 pm Tuesday. According to the official sources, the Customs Inspector Sheikh Najamuddin of Lahore and a larger number of labourers were unloading the two containers full of firecrackers imported from China. Suddenly the containers exploded killing Sheikh Najamuddin, 13 workers and three children on the spot and injuring more than 35 persons. The windows of Sialkot Dry Port Customs House and dozens of the adjacent buildings were shattered. The flames from the burning containers rose about 300 feet in the sky, the eyewitnesses said. The outer walls of more than one dozen houses near dry port railway line, a private school building and several other containers were badly damaged. The thunderous bang of the explosion was heard in Daska and Sialkot City. The debris of the blown up containers and human body parts were scattered all over the import shed, in nearby fields and railway track. The majority of the dead were labourers at the dry port, while three minors were students of a nearby private school, who were returning home after the school. The bodies were burnt up and could not be identified. Only seven of them have so far been identified as Custom Inspector Sheikh Najamuddin from Lahore, Fazal Mubeen Nut, Aqeel s/o Sardar Mohammad, Asghar s/o Bashir Ahmed, Yasin s/o Rehmat, Ali Adnan s/o Allah Ditta and Hafiz ullah r/o Kallar Dev Jhelum. The injured have not yet been identified. The sensitive agencies were busy on the spot in collecting evidence. However, it was not yet clear whether it was a bomb blast. The Sialkot DPOP reached the spot after about two hours. The injured were rushed by an NGO and admitted to Daska, Sambrial and Sialkot hospitals in critical conditions. The post-mortem of the dead was held at the Sialkot Dry Port by a team of doctors from Health Department led by DZafar Awan. Emergency was declared in Sialkot District by local government after the explosions. A crowd gathered at the spot as panic spread in the dry port. Official sources confirmed that the containers were imported from China by Lahore-based importers, but their names could not be ascertained. All the commercial centres, markets, bazaars and banks were closed down in Sambrial, Daska and Sialkot to mourn the victims. In the evening, Punjab IG Police Syed Masood Shah arrived at the spot and inquired about the incident. Acting President and Speaker National Assembly Chaudhry Amir Hussain expressed shock and sorrow over the tragic blast. In a condolence message, he directed the authorities to hold an inquiry into the explosion and punish the perpetrators. 

UPDATE Dusty air in plant caught fire 
By RICHARD STRADLING AND JERRY ALLEGOOD, Staff Writers 
KINSTON — A volatile mix of air and suspended dust caused the explosion and fire that killed four workers at the West Pharmaceutical Services plant last week, federal investigators said Monday. What sparked the blast remained a mystery. Investigators said the explosion began in a mixing area where small fires had occurred in the past. They also said they had identified several possible sources of dust, but could not say which was responsible. The plant, which made synthetic rubber stoppers and other medical supplies, used a variety of chemicals to cure rubber. Nine workers were listed in critical condition at the N.C. Jaycee Burn Center at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill late Monday. Family and friends of Kevin M. Cruiess, 22, who died at the burn center Friday, gathered for his funeral in Kinston. Officials of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said they had ruled out a bomb or other criminal act and would surrender the investigation to the state Department of Labor and the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, known as the CSB. CSB investigators first theorized last week that a dusty byproduct from rubber-making triggered the explosion. Board investigators said Monday that the explosion was centered on the lower level of the plant’s rubber compounding area, where workers mixed crude rubber with chemicals, then rolled, coated, dried and cut the finished rubber. They said several chemicals used in the process could produce explosive dusts. Stephen Selk, the CSB’s lead investigator, said the dust could have been ignited by a spark from static electricity, from machinery, a tool or smoking, though smoking is prohibited inside the plant. “It doesn’t actually take very much energy to ignite a flammable fuel-air mixture,” Selk said. CSB investigators said they were examining whether a mixing machine on the upper level of the compounding area could have caught fire or exploded, setting off the massive blast below. Workers told investigators that the mixer had caught fire before and that one fire was strong enough to blow off the mixer’s door. Investigators will also look at whether a drop ceiling installed above the lower level of the compounding area might have caused dust to reach unsafe levels. Selk said that investigators do not know when that ceiling was installed. The state Department of Labor inspected the West plant in October but did not test the air for dust. The state had no reason to suspect a dust problem and the inspector did not notice one, said Juan Santos, a department spokesman. The company had made changes to the plant since the inspection, said Kevin Beauregard, assistant deputy commissioner for occupational safety and health. Beauregard would not elaborate Monday. “I can’t get into the details of the investigation,” he said. Efforts to reach West officials were unsuccessful Monday. The dust of almost any organic material, including wood, flour, coal and sugar, can become explosive under the right conditions. A fine dust, stirred up in the air in a confined space, can be set off like gasoline in a motor’s cylinder. “Take flour: By itself it’s not a problem,” said Beauregard. “Suspend that in air and make enough surface area around it, then all you need is an ignition source.” Some of the country’s worst dust explosions have occurred in grain elevators. In 1977, two grain elevator explosions in Texas and Louisiana during the week of Christmas killed 54 workers. Peter O’Connor, an ATF special agent, said the Kinston plant has a dust suppression system, and investigators must determine whether and how it was working. O’Connor said there was no evidence yet that the system was not functioning properly. Selk said the CSB has not received company documents that would shed light on the ventilation system. “The company is trying to recover the documents from the scene,” he said. “As soon as they do, they will provide them to us.” Before turning over the explosion investigation, the ATF ruled out several possible causes, said O’Connor. “It was not the result of a criminal bombing, a gas leak, explosion of machinery or utility infrastructure, or an explosion involving bulk chemicals in the plant,” he said. Just as the National Transportation Safety Board investigates airplane crashes, the CSB is an independent agency that finds the causes of chemical accidents and makes recommendations to industry and government to prevent them. “Regardless of what everybody else does, we continue on with our investigation,” said spokesman Sandy Gilmour. The Labor Department also will look for the cause and could fine West Pharmaceutical Services if it finds the company negligent. The department enforces federal worker safety regulations in North Carolina. “Our goal is to find out what happened and to keep it from happening a second time anywhere else in the state of North Carolina,” Santos said. The department fined West $8,690 for 30 safety violations uncovered during the inspection in October. Santos said the department sees no connection between those violations and last week’s explosion. Most of the citations were for lack of procedures, signs and equipment required to keep workers safe around machinery.

UPDATE Investigators look at dust build-up, unknown spark in factory blast
February 03, 2003 
Federal investigators said Monday they found several potential sources of dust in a medical fittings factory that could have fed a massive explosion that destroyed the plant last week and led to four deaths. The blast Wednesday at the West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. plant shot flames and debris high into the air and shook buildings miles away. Three people died outright and a fourth died later of burns as a result of the explosion and fire. Investigators from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board said they identified several potential sources of explosive dust from rubber processing operations at the plant, which is owned by West Pharmaceuticals, of Lionville, Pa. They said they are looking at a suspending ceiling in the first floor of the two-story, 40-tall processing area, on the theory that rubber dust may have accumulated there. They are also examining whether a large explosion on the first floor may have been triggered by a smaller blast of unknown origin. “Plant employees told the investigators that the rubber mixer on the upper level had experienced previous internal fires, including one strong enough to blow off the mixer door,” the CSB said in a news release. “Investigators do not yet know the number or nature of these fires or whether there is a connection between these mixer fires and the events of Jan. 29.” The independent federal agency was holding a briefing at the plant Monday afternoon to discuss its findings. In its news release, the agency said materials used at the site that could have caused a build-up of explosive dust included sulfur, polymer powders and other organic processing agents. “Dust can be an insidious hazard wherever finely divided organic materials are used,” investigator Steve Selk said. “While some of these materials might appear to present a limited fire hazard, when suspended in air under the right conditions these same materials can explode with deadly consequences.” It took several days after the blast before investigators could enter the demolished factory where synthetic rubber was produced in one area and shaped into syringe plungers and intravenous equipment parts in another. About 130 people were inside the medical supply factory at the time of the explosion. Nine remained in critical condition Monday at the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center in Chapel Hill. 

Iscor fire under control 
February 03, 2003, 10:46 PM 
A fire in a transformer plant at Iscor in Pretoria West has been brought under control after causing extensive damage to the plant, which delivers power to the steelworks. Johan Pieterse, the Tshwane Emergency Services spokesperson, says six fire trucks, as well as two hydraulic platforms, were sent to the scene after the fire broke out in the transformer plant. By about 9:30pm the blaze had been brought under control, but fire-fighters were still on standby to prevent transformer oil from over-heating and possibly exploding. There were no casualties, but damage could run into millions. Part of the steelworks was without electricity following the fire. An investigation is to be conducted into the cause.