Industrial Fires & Explosions page 10

Industrial Fires & Explosions Page #10

This page was last updated on  05/06/2010

 

Workers Flee Steel Plant Fire, A fire at Columbus Steel Castings, an Ohio company that makes steel products for the railway industry, drove 247 workers from the building. Another three workers, two on the roof and one in a crane inside the building, were trapped by the blaze until rescued by firefighters. None of the workers were injured, but one firefighter suffered minor burns during the rescue. The Columbus Dispatch has the story

Three casualties during accident in Puerto La Cruz refinery (three workers were injured during an accident when restarting operations in a furnace – victims are on stable conditions)

Burned worker recovering as school plans to reopen (a maintenance worker who was burned while trying to determine why the power went out at the school after a tornado was recovering – worker, 42, received serious burns on his arms and possible heat damage to his lungs, they said he was in stable condition)

Special-Effects Worker Critically-Injured On Movie Set (a simulated stinger missile exploded – the handheld device blew up as a group of special effects specialists were testing it – the injured worker, an assistant, was in critical condition after surgery)

Ice cream machine explosion kills worker (a worker servicing a machine at a restaurant was killed when the unit exploded – the man was working on the compressor of an ice cream machine in the food preparation area of the restaurant at the time of the blast – no one else was injured – a fire marshal and a hazardous materials unit were sent to the scene to make sure conditions were safe – the cause of the blast is under investigation)

Worker Killed In Kern County Oil Well Accident (a worker was killed in an oil well accident – the worker backed his truck into a well, which immediately exploded and burned)

Man hurt in metal furnace blast (a 24-year-old factory worker is critically ill in hospital after suffering 95% burns in an explosion at a metals plant – the man was injured when moisture got into a melting shop furnace -officials described the incident as a blast explosion involving titanium)

Hagerstown Explosion Rocks Fertilizer Plant (an explosion blew a hole in the roof of a fertilizer plant – one person was hurt in the explosion, but did not go to the hospital – firefighters are not saying what set off the explosion  – no other details)

Fire damages roof of Milton restaurant (owner was using a torch to do work on the roof when the roof caught fire – plumbers who also were working on the historic building noticed the fire and ran to a business, a few doors down, to get a fire extinguisher, which put out the fire)

Fuel fire sends worker to hospital (a worker suffered second- and third-degree burns in a fuel tanker fire – the man was apparently filling a stationary diesel tank from a truck when the fuel caught fire and spilled – about 500 gallons of fuel were burned – the cause of the fire is under investigation)

Dalton Fire Claims One Man’s Life (a fire broke out at a recycling plant, and it has been confirmed one worker didn’t make it out alive – he was working the nightshift when a fire broke out – firefighters are still watching hotspots in the fire that left one man dead -firefighters were able to enter the building late Saturday night and found the body)

Small fire at MotorCity Casino addition extinguished (a tarp construction workers were using while welding caught fire – no one was injured)

Five firefighters injured in KC blaze (five firefighters were injured while battling a blaze at a 1920s building that once housed showings of silent films – the firefighters were injured inside the two-story building at about 10 a.m. – one of the firefighters was in serious condition, one in fair condition and the other two were in good condition – two of them are fire captains, one with 29 years of experience and one with 20 – the worst of the injured had burns on about 30 percent of his body – the firefighters were trying to locate the source of the fire when there was a flashover)

Explosion shakes worker (a fire broke out after an explosion at a warehouse building that sent one employee to the emergency room – a worker said he saw a co-worker standing at the top of a dust collector machine when a sudden explosion caused him to fall nearly 10 feet to the ground – he got up on his own, but was pretty shaken up – he was having a hard time standing and walking around – his legs appeared to be burned – the skin was peeling off the back of both his legs, and his surf shorts were burnt – sprinklers hanging from the roof were activated to douse the flames – the fire affected only the dust collector machine)

Fire devastates plant in Dayton; no one hurt (the fire, which was believed to have begun in the ceiling of the 5,000-square-foot building, took fire crews more than an hour to extinguish – no idea what caused the fire – co-worker took a hose and tried to put out the flames but couldn’t contain the fire because it was in the ceiling – estimated that within five minutes of noticing the fire, smoke was pouring from the building)

Equipment fire forces evacuation at Sunfield Inc. (an equipment fire temporarily forced the evacuation of 85 employees – columns of smoke billowed out of a filter system from a piece of equipment that had been removed to the parking lot at the plant – fire crews removed the filter from the building when attempts to extinguish the fire by plant employees were unsuccessful- employees returned to work soon after the filter was removed from the building – no one was injured – the fire began in a self-contained welding unit in the back of the building at around 8:30 a.m., creating substantial smoke some 15 minutes after the initial call)

Fire doused at Flint Hills Refinery (a fire broke out at the refinery – production and refining operations were not interrupted – the fire was reported about 10:30 a.m. – it began in a service building near the processing unit – a sprinkler system in the building was activated and extinguished the fire – there were no injuries in the incident – the origin and cause of the fire were still under investigation)

Fire Hits California Industrial Plant (no one was reported injured in the fire – the location of the bulk of the fire’s smoke was around the building’s electrical panels – an investigation will determine the cause of the fire and the total cost of damage)

Another fire rips Kreamer plant (according to published reports the explosion and subsequent fire ripped through the roof of the plant around 2:40 p.m. – it originated in the collection area, which is part of a blower system that collects sawdust generated in the plant – there were no estimates on the damage to the building – this was the fourth fire to hit the factory)

Workers To Blame For Natural Gas Explosion In Northern Ohio (a contractor ruptured a natural gas line causing an explosion and fire that disrupted service at a hospital and knocked out power to area homes and schools – no one was injured in the accident, which occurred when employees working on a traffic light project, drilled a hole in a location not marked as having a gas line – flames shot 40-feet into the air burning overhead wires and a transformer on a utility pole)

Fire breaks out inside city steam plant (a fire broke out inside a steam plant – no one was injured – damage was estimated at more than $50,000 – fire began in the plant’s boiler room, and its cause remains under investigation)

Fire causes evacuation at alternative school (students and staff were evacuated from an alternative school program as a result of a fire in a neighboring warehouse area that reportedly left at least one person injured – a subcontractor was doing welding work on a truck frame when a flash fire occurred after a portable generator ran out of fuel‚ or as fuel was being put into it)

Gas fire sparks evacuation (a large part of a town was evacuated for 24 hours after a gas cylinder took fire in the welding workshop – police cordoned off a 200-metre exclusion zone and evacuated around 200 people from flats, offices, bars, shops and the fish market just after 11am as a precautionary measure in case the canister exploded – the alarm was first raised after a tank of acetylene gas went on fire – the welder who was working with it at the time went to get a fire extinguisher, but by the time he got back the fire was too much for him to deal with)

Explosion, Fire Damage Factory In Caldwell (an explosion and fire destroyed a storage trailer and damaged part of a furniture factory, but no one was seriously injured – twelve employees were working at the custom finishing plant when the explosion occurred shortly before 4 p.m. – firefighters were still investigating the cause of the explosion – a worker, 25, said he was spraying furniture with a highly flammable lacquer when he heard the spray booth motor pop – he went to turn off the machine when flames erupted no more than two feet from his face, slightly singeing his forehead – within seconds, flames had covered the ceiling and were lapping at the walls of the room – he and the other 11 employees working in the factory fled the building and called 911)

Five Alarm Fire Consumes Chemical Plant in Pennsylvania (the fire destroyed the cleaning supplies factory – no one was injured – the chemic May 12, 2007 move into a defensive operation and simply let the fire burn out – as the fire burned, officials warned people in May 12, 2007 May 12, 2007 May 12, 2007 May 12, 2007 -dMEhrdQ0gnsU6%402179703-yEkY8OoF823SE” target=”nw”>Blaze damages machine (no injuries occurred and city fire crews cleared the scene in about two hours – a machine apparently overheated and caused $60,000 in damage at the plant slated to close by the second half of 2008)

Blast rocks asphalt plant (a huge blast rocked an asphalt plant causing a fire in the plant – no loss of life was reported – no word on cause)

Cincinnati Officer Injured in Manhole Explosion, The officer was transported to University Hospital with debris in his eyes and flash burns to his face.

UPDATE State officials end explosion investigation (state officials, in announcing the end of their probe and turning the site back over to the property owner, also said the ignition source may never be known – investigators and the U.S. Chemical Safety Board Investigative Team were expected to continue probing in an attempt to discover what set off the blast – four people were killed and five others were injured in the explosion, which leveled the building)

Four dead in Colombia mine explosion – reports (four coal miners were killed and 28 more were trapped and feared dead after explosions in two coal mines  – firefighters and police were trying to rescue those trapped in the mines about 3,280 feet (1,000 metres) underground)

LI gas station spill causes explosion, building to be razed (a mechanic’s accidental spill caused an explosion at a gas station, destroying five cars and leaving the structure unstable – the station went up in flames after the mechanic accidentally spilled gasoline on the floor – an electric space heater ignited fumes from the spill, and the fire then caused a tank of welding fuel to explode – the mechanic escaped unharmed before the explosion and no charges would be filed)

UPDATE State alleges cover-up at coal mine where worker died in Oct. (state regulators revoked the operating permit of a coal mine where a worker died in an explosion three months ago, alleging that a cover-up of a similar 2004 blast might have contributed to the man’s death – an investigation revealed similarities between the Oct. 23 blast and a 2004 accident at the same mine that injured four workers)

UPDATE Family of mill worker sues over deadly blast (the wife, mother and four children are suing the manufacturer of a vacuum conveyer system and two individuals at the mill for the January 24th, 2005, explosion – a report by OSHA blamed the deadly blast on three flour houses that were not properly bonded to a vacuum conveyor system)

1 Dies in Tenn. Building Collapse (a building collapsed while undergoing renovations, killing one worker and injuring another – officials did not indicate that an explosion occurred and have not determined a cause of the collapse – worker, 57, died at the scene – another man was taken to a hospital and was in critical condition)

Blast rocks cobalt refinery (an explosion has destroyed the furnace at a cobalt refinery and halted operations – it was reported that the blast injured one worker at the mine – no other details)

UPDATE Oilfield company found responsible for explosion (in a ruling the judge said the company failed to ensure all new employees properly understood their safety training book and their hazardous goods books – witness testified he had only been on the job five days when he was caught in the explosion while unloading natural gas condensate into a storage tank – he received burns to about 40 per cent of his body and was hospitalized for 31 days – court ruled the company also failed to ensure safety procedures were followed in the field, that drivers relied too heavily on experience, that the company failed to do field checks to ensure safety procedures were being followed, and that it failed to ensure truck drivers knew what they were hauling and the safety procedures to be followed)

Six workers hurt in plant blast (an explosion rocked a plant sending six workers to a local hospital – none were injured seriously in the blast that occurred about 1 p.m. – the blast occurred in a high pressure die-cast machine – one employee was kept overnight for observation – the other employees were released from the hospital that night)

Chemical Concerns: Nairit explosion highlights safety issues for … (according to the results of a preliminary investigation, a powerful explosion at the chemical plant caused damage estimated at more than $85,000 – one person was hospitalized and six cars were damaged as a result of the explosion on September 23; a criminal case has been instituted – the inquiry concluded that the explosion was caused by a leakage of gases in premises at the sprawling industrial giant, which had recently resumed a small part of its activity – prosecutors found that a highly explosive mixture of chloroprene was poured into a container that had been improperly repaired, from where it penetrated the sewage system – “The gases of chloroprene wastes, creating a dangerously explosive mass with the air in the sewage collector, combusted, as a result of which on September 23, at about 7.10pm, explosions took place in the collector,” the investigation found)

Explosion at SE sends two to the hospital (the building is currently under construction and the explosion happened when fumes leaked from a welding tank and were ignited when a worker, 22, attempted to light the welding torch – according to police, the vapors exploded and damaged a storage container the welding tank was in, along with breaking several windows and blowing a door off of its hinges)

Local Man Killed In AEP Explosion (investigators are trying to determine what caused an explosion that killed a man and injured nine others at a coal-burning power plant – the explosion killed 61-year-old truck driver who was delivering pressurized hydrogen – he was unloading hydrogen into cylinders

UPDATE Company fined £45000 after employee fatally set on fire (a car parts factory has been fined £45,000 in relation to an incident in which a worker died after he was set alight – he suffered burns to nearly 90% of his body after accidentally knocking a vat of highly flammable liquid over himself – the flammable liquid was used to clean a plastic product on a production line, and was in a container on a shelf just above a 150 watt light bulb – when he attempted to dislodge some tubes leading from the container which had become tangled, he pulled the container off the shelf spilling the chemicals on to his clothes and the light bulb below – the light bulb exploded and a spark ignited his clothing)

Workers Injured After Tire Explodes In Vandalia (two workers were injured after the tire they were working on blew apart – two workers were trying to fix a leak on the tire of a snow blower when the tire exploded – both workers were taken to hospital with injuries that are not life-threatening – it is unknown what caused the tire to explode)

Two workers burned at Kennecott (two men suffered second- and third-degree burns after hot ash fell on them at the smelter – the accident occurred as an employee and an independent contractor were cleaning ash from the shaft of the flash converting furnace – the cleaning process involves opening a hatch in the shaft and using a long air lance to blow the ash- some hot ash came back through the hatch, burning the two men – one man suffered burns to 10 percent of his body, while the other suffered burns to 15 percent of his body)

Fire Damages Goshen Plant (the fire started at one of the stacks and spread through some of the ceiling at the plant – fire fighters attacked most of the fire from the roof, meaning there was nothing to block the wind from them – they evacuated the plant – no one was injured)

Cooling units at plant catch fire (two giant cooling units caught fire at a local industrial plant causing $100,000 in damages – firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze in 30 minutes – no buildings were damaged during the fire and there were no injuries – the cause of the fire is under investigation)

‘Small explosion’ injures two at vocational high school in Easton (one student and one adult suffered minor injuries after a “small explosion” – explosion may have been touched off by a plumber’s torch – the accident was still under investigation – incident occurred in the basement of a new building under construction at the high school – several windows and a door were destroyed in the building, but there was no fire)

Court denies injured worker who disobeyed (the majority in the 5-2 decision accepted the argument by the restaurant owner that a 16-year-old worker had voluntarily abandoned his job when he ignored repeated warnings not to boil water in the cooker to clean it – that meant he was not entitled to workers compensation payments because he no longer had a job when he was injured, the ruling said – he was working when boiling water spewed from a pressure cooker and caused third-degree burns around his hip and groin; second-degree burns on his arms, torso and back; and also burned two co-workers – a company investigation found he had ignored warnings in the employee handbook and on the cooker as well as repeated warnings by two co-workers and a supervisor)

Boy ignites crude oil, dies in explosion (a 14-year-old boy was killed in a fiery explosion after he ignited a tank of crude oil – the boy climbed on top of the tank, lifted the lid and dropped a lighted object inside, causing an explosion – the explosion destroyed the tank and spilled the oil, which continued to burn – the tank, owned by an oil company, is near a well that produces both oil and gas – it contained about 45,000 gallons of crude oil – the 15-year-old told sheriff’s deputies that his companion lit a piece of paper – the boy told deputies that he was standing below the tank when the oil was ignited)

Damage hits $300k in City Hall fire (a spark from a welder’s torch smoldered for hours, touching off a two alarm blaze that caused $300,000 in damage to part of City Hall – welder reportedly noticed an errant spark land on flammable material around 2:30 p.m. and splashed water in the general area in an attempt to extinguish it – he later left the job site, unaware that it continued to smolder – it wasn’t until midnight that a motorist on Interstate 15 saw smoke in the area and alerted authorities – about the same time, the fire alarm sounded for a water flow, and four sprinkler heads activated and basically saved the structure)

UPDATE Federal board cites vapor build up in Danvers explosion (a build-up of chemical vapor was the fuel for a massive explosion at a paint and ink factory that leveled the building and forced a neighborhood evacuation, according to a preliminary conclusion by federal investigators – the probe is also looking into the possibility that natural gas collected inside the building, which was used by ink manufacturer – solvent fumes that collected inside the building were the most likely cause of the blast)

UPDATE Pipeline failure at hart of Valero accident (the man who heads refining operations blamed a pipeline failure for Sunday’s fire at the company’s refinery – the fire was the sixth high-profile incident at the refinery in the last 14 months – the blaze was “related to a failure in the piping system,” that attached a heater to the refinery’s fluid catalytic cracking unit – he did not say what type of failure sparked the fire)

Faults Shut Down Swedish Nuclear Reactor (A nuclear reactor at a nuclear power plant was temporarily shut down after some security system faults were discovered by officials – plant officials discovered that a rubber seal on the reactor may have lost elasticity, they promptly shut down the reactor to conduct an appropriate analysis)

Accidental fire damages tyre plant in Orissa (a major fire broke out in a tyre plant causing damage to property though no injuries were reported – the accidental fire broke out while hundreds of labourers were at work – the fire was brought under control within three hours with the help of the fire brigade – the exact amount of the loss of property was yet to be ascertained – chemicals and rubbers worth some hundreds of thousands of rupees were gutted)

Wisconsin Plant Fire Triggers Concern (authorities evacuated 60 second-shift workers when aluminum dust sparked a fire in a dust collector – the fine dust just sparked and started the filtering system on fire)

CHINA: Seven workers killed by factory fire (at least seven women workers have been killed after a fire broke out at a reportedly unlicensed garment factory – the fire, which was said to have been started by surplus material being burnt, also left four workers suffering from smoke inhalation – according to local reports, the underwear factory’s owner regularly locked doors and windows to stop workers from escaping)

Steuben County Worker Suffers Electrical Burns One of the hazards of electrical work is shock. However, there are many other dangerous situations that can be set in motion by a shock, arc, or other incident. Employees should always remember this potential danger when working at heights, and always take precautions including control of hazardous energy (lockout/tagout).  PureSafety offers a number of courses related to electrical safety and lockout/tagout.

Zinifex explosion forces lead smelter shutdown (smelter has had to shut down part of its lead smelter because of a steam explosion that injured a worker – the accident happened near the blast furnace when molten slag came into contact with water – the worker suffered steam burns to his arms – while the furnace wasn’t directly damaged during the explosion, repairs have to be made to surrounding equipment)

Explosion & Fire at Wood Pellet Plant (an explosion and fire at a wood pellet plant injured two workers – one worker, 47, was pulled from the burning building – another worker, 31, was found near the road – both were taken to hospital for treatment – the northeast side of the plant was severely damaged by the explosion)

Crews battle gasoline leak at Valero Memphis Refinery (Fire Department responded to a storage tank leak at the refinery – a gasoline storage tank developed a leak – gas leaked from the tank into a dyke and onto the company property – the Fire Department set up foam barriers in to contain the leak – road was closed while crews worked to contain the leak – the gas leak was not considered an environmental problem because it was located in a containment area, although firefighters remained at the scene during the clean-up to prevent the spilled fuel from igniting)

Substation fire causes widespread power outages (a fire at an electrical substation caused a brief power outage to thousands – a transformer in a substation power station caught fire, causing the outages – an explosion that might have come from a breaker box started the fire – no one was at the substation when the explosion occurred, and no one was injured)

Factory fire causes $2.5m damage (fire has caused damage estimated at $2.5 million at a timber factory – fire crews were called to the laminated timber plant – the factory’s fire suppression system was unable to contain the fire, which spread from a wood trimming machine to a sawdust storage area – it took firefighters more than an hour to stop the spread of the fire, and another hour to bring it under control – it appears the fire was caused by friction on the trimming machine igniting sawdust and timber residue)

Ten people injured in plant fire in Yekaterinburg (ten people were injured in a fire, which had broken out at the plant – all fire victims got poisoned with carbon monoxide – at present they were hospitalized – seventy people were evacuated from the burning building – the fire has broken out in the hangar where a businessman organized the furniture production)

Kemira GrowHow says fire disrupts production at Belgian plant (a fire at a nitric acid plant did not cause any injuries or environmental damage – no word on cause)

Propane fire causes $15,000 in damages (a fire at a propane business caused about $15,000 in damage – the fire began when a tank being unloaded fell over – that allowed propane to flow out and be ignited – the fire was under control in less than an hour – no one was injured)

Worker killed at Indiana County factory (a worker, 56, was killed when his clothes became caught in machinery at a factory that makes truck-mounted cement mixers – he died in the accident when his clothes got caught in a rotary lathe)

UPDATE Plant penalized for explosion that killed worker (a photochemicals plant faces 91-thousand dollars in penalties following an investigation into an explosion last August that killed one worker – the state Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the plant on 13 safety violations – worker was injured and died later at a hospital after an unexplained chemical reaction caused an explosion – among the safety violations were inadequate training on emergency procedures and hazard analysis and lack of adequate fire protection)

Arlington Construction Accident (a construction worker was transported to the hospital with serious, but non-life threatening burns to his face – three workers were nearly electrocuted – the workers were installing a panel when the incident occurred – two other workers were treated on scene)

Belt catches fire at Federal Mogul (a belt used in one of the plant’s processes caught fire, requiring firefighters to use a dry chemical to put it out – belt gets extremely hot and sometimes it catches fire)

Fire at refinery sends 1 to hospital (two small explosions and fire at the refinery injured one person – the fire was extinguished within 20 minutes of the call reporting the incident – the injured individual, a refinery employee working near the site of the fire, was treated for “minor cuts and bruises” – explosion and fire originated in a unit that the refinery uses to separate fuels and oil from waste water before sending it downstream)

Spark starts fire that blocks city artery (a welding accident in a panel-beating workshop sparked a ferocious fire that closed a busy city thoroughfare in both directions – it was “amazing” how quickly the workshop went up in flames, forcing him to run for safety as paint cans exploded – “Me, my son and nephew were MIG-welding in the spray booth and a little inch of flame started with a spark on the exhaust outlet,” – “By the time we had grabbed a bucket of water and hose the whole exhaust stack was on flames, and the rest is history. “I was trying to put it out, but with all the smoke and the fumes if I’d stayed another five minutes I’d be dead by now.”)

Chemical plant blast kills 3 in Gansu (at least three people were killed in an explosion accident at a chemical plant – accident occurred at around 9:00 am at an explosives storage facility – accident killed at least three people, while the number of the injured is still being calculated)

Acidic water spills at Agrium Inc. plant (enough acid-laced water to fill more than five Olympic-sized swimming pools breached a berm at a fertilizer manufacturer, inundating a nearby farmer’s field – no injuries were reported – the 3.5 million gallons of acidic water that gushed over the protective berm surrounding a 20- to 30-foot-high storage area — called a “gypsum stack” — is used to turn ore from the nearby mine into phosphoric acid – it was unclear why the berm failed)

Fortune Tower, welding blamed (the cause of the fire which killed two workers has been put down to unauthorized flame welding – investigators now say the fire started at about 12.30pm on the tenth floor in a drainage shaft containing pipes for the air conditioning systems – one foreman and two Asian workers have been detained over alleged negligence)

Four killed in refinery pipeline fire (four workers were killed and 16 injured, some of them critically, in a fire in the pipeline area of the refinery – the blaze occurred around midnight about three km away from the main refinery in a section of a 18-km-long pipeline network when workers were engaged in welding operations – the pipelines carry crude from the port to the refinery and refined petroleum products back to the port)

Welding ignites Pawtucket fire (sparks from a welding torch caused a fire that sent clouds of smoke and flames shooting upward from a cooling tower at the food oil processing plant – the fire destroyed the tower, which was being taken out of service, along with the motor that workers using a welding torch were trying to salvage – the cooling tower had been removed by a rigging contractor and set down beside the building, which is uphill from the plant – the workers who climbed atop the cooling tower to remove the motor failed to lay down the fire-retardant blankets that would have stopped sparks and slag from the torch from setting fire to the plastic baffle inside the tower – no one was seriously injured in the fire, although a firefighter was hit in the eye with a stream of high-pressure water when a fire hose came uncoupled)

Man burned in Hanover blaze (worker was inside a shed with a co-worker who was welding metal when he heard an explosion – “I saw the flames come out around us. And he was on fire,” – co-worker said he didn’t see the explosion because his back was turned at the time, but he took off his coat and used it to suffocate the flames that were eating at the man’s legs – firefighters were dispatched to the family-owned trash hauling business for a fire with an explosion inside a shed – the “truck shed” – the site of the fire – is where employees weld, recycle and perform maintenance – at the time of the accident the worker had been using a cutting torch powered by a propane tank and oxygen tank to cut bolts off a radiator on an air compressor – it appears at some point, he may have inadvertently cut the oxygen line, causing an immediate explosion – as a result of the explosion the line to the propane tank was severed and leaked propane which fueled the fire)

Sparks ignite scrap metal in deadly blaze at Columbia factory (a fire at a metal factory killed one worker and injured 11 more – worker, 59, an employee of a Heating and Cooling company, was welding on an overhead ventilation duct at the factory when sparks fell into a container of scrap magnesium and aluminum and caught fire – he was pronounced dead at the scene – nine employees were treated for smoke inhalation and released; two employees required hospitalization)

Fire does $200000 damage at Kuhlman Corp. cement plant (a fire caused about $200,000 damage to the cement batch plant – the fire was reported about 11:30 a.m. when workers using a cutting torch created sparks that triggered some sort of grease fire at the plant – workers inside the facility fled; no injuries were reported – the plant was shut down for maintenance at the time of the fire)

SATURDAY: NT fire causes thousands in damages (4:19 pm) (a fire at an apartment house caused roughly $20,000 in damage before firefighters contained the blaze – worker, 32, a laborer for a company working on the house, was using a torch to seal rubber roofing when it caught fire)

A FACTORY worker suffered facial burns in an explosion at a … (a worker suffered facial burns in an explosion at a battery manufacturing plant – the man was working on a battery filling machine at the factory when it flashed and exploded, causing first degree burns to the side of his face – the incident happened in a processing room – he was treated for superficial burns and slight smoke inhalation – the machine was damaged by the explosion and the rest of the room slightly damaged by smoke)

Savannah Trash Truck Explosion (something exploded inside a city garbage truck – the workers for the sanitation service said as they were compacting the trash there was a large explosion, black smoke that came out of the truck – no one was hurt – know it was more than an aerosol can, but we don’t know if it was something bigger, anything possibly hazardous)

Kansas City Plant Explosions an Accident (a series of explosions that devastated a chemical distribution plant and shrouded this city in black smoke was an accident – fire Chief said the blaze started when employees were offloading a petroleum-based product – several 55-gallon drums ignited, touching off the explosions that injured two workers inside the plant – a company official previously said the chemical may have been polybutene, which is used in a variety of products, including liners for cereal boxes – the fire destroyed the five-acre plant, with losses estimated at $1 million – company officials said they plan to rebuild – the fire department determined late Thursday that conditions were safe enough to allow the return of most residents and business owners in a six-block area. They were to be allowed to pass checkpoints with identification)

Firefighters Battle Fiberglass Plant Fire in Shelbyville (the blaze at an insulation manufacturing plant was confined mostly to office space – company officials say the fire damaged none of the 220 million dollars worth of renovation that was done in the last couple of years – sub-zero weather and frozen fire hydrants hindered the work of firefighters as they battled the blaze – a firefighter who was injured in a small explosion during the fire was treated and released from a hospital – everyone working in the complex was able to get out safely when the fire began around 2:30 a.m. – schools were closed and businesses were asked to shut down in the city because of low water pressure – the cause of the fire isn’t known)

2 volunteer firefighters suffer smoke inhalation in Blissfield Twp … (the fire was confined to a bake oven used for adhering paint onto parts – a build up of resin or other materials on the exhaust stack might have caused the fire – workers were evacuated when the fire broke out about 8:20 a.m., and they were not in any danger – the two volunteer firefighters, who are employed at the plant and were working when the fire broke out, were taken to the hospital after they were overcome by smoke)

Fire extinguished at Alcoa plant (kerosene vapors caught fire in a pit at the plant, and firefighters extinguished the blaze with foam – the fire did not cause substantial damage – one worker said he and other employees saw flames in the oven area, where aluminum is heated, and they were evacuated)

Paint plant fire under investigation (the fire broke out in the rear of the plant near a pallet of paper products – the Fire Department was dispatched at 6:52 p.m. when smoke activated the alarm system – firefighters put the fire out five minutes later – no one was inside the building when the fire started)

1 Critically Hurt In Wilmington Refinery Accident (one worker was critically injured with extensive flash burns to the hands and the face after an accident at the refinery, which also hurt three others – a report of a possible electrocution sent firefighters – the firefighters found four workers injured when a flash fire occurred in a 2,300-volt panel they were working on – one worker was critically injured and another was seriously hurt – two others were treated for minor injuries)

Fires Damage 2 Central Indiana Businesses (two employees were using a blowtorch to put down flooring when the fire sparked – both workers were burned – one was listed in serious condition and the other worker refused treatment)

Welder’s torch sparked fire at Mansfield eatery (fire investigators have determined sparks from a welder’s torch accidentally touched off the three-alarm fire that destroyed the nearly completed steakhouse – the fire probably smoldered long after workers had left for the day – the fire loss was estimated at $1.2 million and reduced the building to just four walls)

No one hurt in fire at chemical plant (employees at a chemical plant were evacuated for about a half-hour after fumes in a vat of highly flammable materials caught fire – fumes in a vat of acetone and nitrocellulose caught fire – the sprinkler system activated when employees failed to put the fire out – the fire occurred under the vat’s cover – offcials speculated a spark might have caused the fumes to ignite – nobody was injured in the fire – damage was limited, and was caused mostly by water from the overhead sprinkler system)

Four injured in textile company blast (four persons were injured in a minor blast at a fabric company – the colour dyeing boiler exploded due to high pressure causing the water inside to splash out – the four injured were inside the unit at the time of the accident and were rushed to a nearby hospital)

Fire Kills One At Ohio Steel Plant (fire officials have confirmed that one person died and another was injured during a blaze at the Steel plant – incident occurred involving a contract worker – one report from workers inside the plant said the fire could have been caused by an exploding truck tire)

Slovakian Ammo Factory Blast Kills 2 (an explosion in an ammunition factory killed two people, left six missing and injured 45, five seriously – the accident in a military complex took place in a building where old ammunition is destroyed – the explosion leveled the building – several other buildings also collapsed)

OK oil field explosions hurt four (a crew working in an oil field perforated a gas well, triggering two pressure explosions that sent four people to the hospital – two rig workers were flown by medical helicopter to a Medical Center – two others who were trying to help the rig workers were hit by flying debris during the second explosion – they were treated and released – the explosions didn’t cause a fire – they went to pressure test it, and someone forgot to hit the shutoff valve before they unscrewed the plug to do the pressure test – this was not a well blowout – it was just a release of pressure – when crews responded to the scene, a second explosion hurt a second rig worker and injured two emergency responders – debris from that explosion hit one responder in the head, giving him a possible concussion, and left a second disoriented)

Two men taken to hospital after Brighton explosion (two men were taken the Hospital after a small explosion erupted at work – one of the employees was welding near a 350 gallon waste oil storage tank when vapors from inside the tank ignited causing the low-scale explosion – the man was covered in flames and taken to the hospital in serious condition – another employee who tried to help extinguish the flames with his hands suffered moderate injuries)

Explosion at Salina Battery Plant (an explosion at a plant sends workers home – a leaking propane tank caused the blast at the vehicle battery manufacturer – causes millions of dollars worth of damage to equipment – 150 employees evacuated the building after an explosion happened on one of the lines used to produce batteries – officials credit the sprinklers in the building to saving the structure – thirteen sprinkler heads were activated during the fire – no one was injured in the explosion and no hazardous material was released)

Construction worker electrocuted at site in Granite City (a 46-year-old man was killed while working for a masonry contractor on a construction site – he was putting rebar into concrete – while he was lifting a piece of rebar, the top hit a high voltage line above his head – those on the scene immediately began CPR, and the City Fire Department transported him to the Regional Medical Center – after finding no signs of life, emergency room physician pronounced him dead)

Fire put out at Eramet plant (molten metal leaked out of a furnace – the second burn-through at that furnace in two weeks – liquid silicomanganese burned through a portion of the furnace – it happened near the site of the previous burn-through on Feb. 23 – the molten material did cause “a small, mobile equipment fire” that was quickly extinguished – no one was injured)

Fire at Tyson Foods building in Wilkesboro (a metal building at the plant caught fire – no one was injured in the blaze, which took firefighters about an hour to knock down – the 75-by-75-square-foot building is used for welding and isn’t connected to the main plant – no word yet on a cause of the fire)

Outaouais sawmill fire puts 100 out of work (a raging fire destroyed a sawmill – fire crews were called after a spark flew from an employee’s welding torch and lit a pile of wood shavings – the fire that destroyed the mill started when a spark flew from a worker’s welding torch and ignited a pile of wood shavings – the flames broke out near where the logs are stored at the back of the mill and the fire spread quickly – twenty employees were evacuated from the building and one was treated for smoke inhalation – police estimated that the fire caused $250,000 in damage)

Fire burns crop at Turon Mill (the blaze inside one of the elevators likely damaged thousands of bushels of corn – no one was injured in the fire, and the exterior of the elevator remained intact except for two small holes – welders came to the mill to work on repairing the roof of an 80-foot-tall elevator – while they were welding and cutting, sparks apparently flew into the corn inside the elevator – the corn may have been smoldering over the weekend, but workers didn’t discover the fire until Monday morning when they saw smoke coming out of the top of the elevator – there were about 25,000 bushels of corn inside the elevator that had the fire – with corn currently selling for $4.12 a bushel, the entire 70-foot stockpile was worth more than $100,000)

Small blaze breaks out at Petro-Canada refinery (the fire at the refinery started when hydrocarbons leaked from the alkylation unit – the fire was quickly put out and no one was injured, although 62 contractors were sent home as a precaution – damage was limited – an investigation was underway to determine why the leak occurred)

Accidental fire at Guwahati refinery doused (a major fire that broke out at the refinery was brought under control with oil experts launching a probe to investigate the cause of the blaze – the fire at the crude distillation unit triggered panic around the area – it was an accidental fire which was brought under control in about two hour’s time with the help of 10 fire tenders – officials are assessing the damage caused by the fire – an investigation has since been launched to ascertain the cause of the fire)

Breaking News — Chemical Fire Shuts Down Portion of Bay (a chemical fire closed down a portion of the town – the fire broke out in a building being used by an extermination business and burned for more than 15 hours – the fire was a result of the chemical Phosephane that burned off a tank in a shed – unlike most fires HazMat was forced to just let it burn because of the chemical and the number of other chemicals in the building – residents within a quarter-mile of the site and currently at home should stay in their residences as a precaution – officials are restricting traffic in the area and are not allowing residents to return to their homes located within the ¼ mile area)

1 killed, dozens escape explosion at warehouse (an explosion at a warehouse killed a man whose last day on the job would have been the next day – the man died in the explosion – four dozen others who work there escaped without injury – explosion blew out walls and roof portions of the warehouse and rocked the surrounding Industrial Park – a preliminary investigation showed the blast occurred after a piece of equipment, a high-pressure vessel used for the manufacturing of rubber, failed)

UPDATE Investigators: Worker error caused fatal chemical plant explosion (a series of explosions that killed five employees at a central Illinois chemical plant in 2004 was caused by a worker who mistakenly opened a valve on a high-temperature reactor that was in operation)

Worker burnt at smeltery (a lead smelting plant has been shut down after a worker suffered serious burns in an explosion – company said it would not restart any production processes until the cause of the blast was known – a man suffered burns to up to 60 per cent of his body in the explosion, which a company spokesman said appeared to have been sparked as molten material was discharged from the copper drossing furnace – his condition was considered serious but his injuries were not believed to be life threatening – a second worker was treated at the scene for minor injuries)

Blast report nears release Formosa accident findings to include video re-creation, State Journal Register-Springfield, By Sarah Antonacci, The U.S. Chemical Safety Board will issue early next month its final report on the 2004 Formosa Plastics plant explosion in Illiopolis, including a video re-creation of the most likely scenario of how the deadly blast occurred. Sandy Gilmour, a spokesman for the Chemical Safety Board, said Monday the board intends to release the report at a news conference in the first two weeks of March. In addition to the video and the agency’s findings, the release “contains a number of safety recommendations to the company and other organizations that, if adopted, we believe will prevent accidents like this from reoccurring.” Illiopolis was jolted April 23, 2004, by the massive explosion that killed five Formosa Plastics employees, injured several others and leveled much of the plant, which was the eastern Sangamon County community’s biggest employer. http://www.sj-r.com/sections/news/stories/108788.asp

CSB: Propane Leak Possible Cause of West Virginia Explosion
An “uncontrollable release” of propane from a gas tank during a transfer of services is the possible culprit of a Jan. 30 gas explosion that leveled the Little General Store as well as several stores, nearby homes and an elementary school in Ghent, W. Va., according to the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB).

More info on the Propane Explosion in Ghent, WV, On the morning of January 30th, a technician working for Appalachian Heating (a company that had a business arrangement with Thompson Gas) was onsite at the Little General Store in Ghent, preparing to switch propane service to Thompson Gas from a previous propane vendor, Ferrellgas. As part of the process, the technician was to transfer propane from the Ferrellgas tank to the newly-installed one. The old tank was located against the store’s outside rear wall. The new tank was installed about ten feet away.  At some point while preparing for the propane transfer- and it is not yet clear exactly when – propane began flowing out of the Ferrellgas tank next to the store. It was an uncontrollable release and the technician was unable to stop the flow. He called 911 at 10:40 a.m.  Two EMT responders arrived in an ambulance, joined by two volunteer firefighters who arrived in separate vehicles.  The second Appalachian Heating technician arrived to assist with the release.  The responding fire department personnel reported a billowing vapor or mist around the tank closest to the building. The cloud was striking the eaves of the building and traveling along the ground.  Witnesses said the store was in the process of closing. Someone posted a note on the door which read to the effect of “Closed due to gas leak.” One of the EMTs was warning people away from the property but the employees had not evacuated at the time of the explosion.  The fire department dispatcher then received a report of a large explosion at 10:53 a.m., thirteen (13) minutes after the first 911 call reporting the propane release.  The four victims who were killed – the two Appalachian Heating employees and two emergency responders – were located in the area near the two tanks next to the building. Of the five victims who suffered serious injuries, four were either inside the store and the fifth, Mr. Caldwell, was in the parking lot approaching the tanks. Click Here for more from the CSB.

Explosion Levels Valero Refinery, Injures 19 Workers, A fiery explosion that rocked a 170,000-barrel-a-day Texas refinery operated by Valero Energy Corp. on Feb. 17, injuring 19 people and forcing the shutdown and evacuation of the plant.

Welder injured after work in combustible atmosphere (worker was burnt by a fire caused when gas ignited on a landfill site – the fire broke out when a contractor was allowed to carry out welding in a flammable atmosphere – when trespassers to the site began vandalising equipment and removing manhole covers from wells, the site manager decided to allow welding to take place in order to secure the wells – as anyone who fell down them could be killed – was aware of methane gas produced by the landfill site but it failed to take into account the impact of carrying out welding in a flammable atmosphere – a 17-year-old worker suffered burns to his hand when sparks from welding he was doing ignited this methane gas)

Investigation Into Fire at Esso Refinery (a fire at the refinery started in the crude oil processing unit – both the emergency response team and county Firefighters responded – the blaze was quickly contained – no one was hurt and the refinery continues to operate – the exact cause is under investigation by fire and company officials)

Fire destroys Belews Lake marina (a shop building burned down in a fire – a worker at the marina was using an acetylene welding torch when a stray spark started the fire – it sounds like the sparks set some gasoline on fire that was on the floor – the shop building and its contents were destroyed, totaling about $50,000 in damages – the employee using the welding torch was treated on the scene for some smoke inhalation)

Texas Refinery Fire Burns After 19 Hurt (an explosion injured 19 people and produced a billowing cloud of smoke that could be seen 60 miles away – no deaths were reported and all employees at the refinery were accounted for – the fire was believed to have started at the refinery’s “propane de-asphalting unit,” where fuel is processed at high temperatures – two employees and a contract worker who had been in critical condition were transferred to a regional burn unit – two of the men had been upgraded to serious condition)

2 firemen injured chief, captain from BOWLING GREEN are burned on … (two members of a volunteer fire department jumped to safety from a second-floor window of a burning house – they were on the second floor of a house during a countywide fire response – they were trying to find the source of the blaze in the two-story wood house when a flash fire swept through the second floor – flames burned through the hoses holding their water and air – it burned the stairs, trapping them on the second floor – neither was hurt jumping to the ground from the window 15 feet above – but both men were burned – one inhaled a significant amount of smoke and gas and suffered first- and second-degree burns from the waist up – his hands, arms and abdomen were burned the worst – the other FF’s neck, arms and ears had second-degree burns on them)

Paper dust causes fire at Procter & Gamble mill (firefighters spent several hours extinguishing a concealed paper dust fire at the paper mill – firefighters were called to the plant three separate times, spending four hours on the scene after being called for the last time – damage estimate was not available, but Battalion Chief said the damage was “substantial” because firefighters had to cut through walls to get at the fire and make sure it was out – two paper machines were shut down while crews took care of the fire)

Knauf plant fire caused by faulty outlet (the fire chief says the cause of last week’s fire at the city’s largest employer was due to a faulty outlet – the fire started in an office area – it was contained before spreading into the manufacturing section of the plant)

Fire Breaks Out At Oracle Plant (the fire had spread to another room and caused an explosion that caused the roof to collapse – the explosion left a hole in the roof about 40 feet in diameter – fire marshal’s office has not determined the cause of the explosion but has determined it to be accidental – about 25 percent of the building was damaged – the fire started at a milling machine, where workers were making aluminum foil that the company sells to pharmaceutical, health-care and food companies – the material is fed through the machine to be pressed – workers use oil to keep the material cool – the oil ignited, starting the fire – a fire-suppression system on the machine put it out, but not before it had spread into an overhead duct system – the fire then spread into a room where the aluminum foil is bailed for recycling, where the explosion occurred – investigators have an idea of what caused the explosion)

Fire Ravages Santa Fe Springs Welding Facility (a fire damaged a welding facility – the fire was still reported to be burning an hour later – no one was hurt in the blaze, the cause of which was not immediately clear)

Oil Tanker Barge Explodes in Louisiana (a tank barge, carrying about 17,000 gallons of crude oil, burst into flames during a welding operation – one man was killed, another was injured, and an unknown amount of crude oil spilled into the water – the barge was moored with a crane barge, which caught fire and was destroyed – it took more than four hours to put out the fire on the tank barge)

Fire That Consumed Boat Factory And 50 Boats (an electrical short in a ventilation fan is thought to have triggered a fire that destroyed a boat factory and 50 boats – the fire started just after 2:30 p.m. and spread rapidly throughout the 50,000-square-foot metal building – because resin had collected on the floors and walls of the building from years of manufacturing fiberglass boats, the fire flashed through the open building and was very hard to contain – workers were spraying a volatile resin at the time the fan appeared to have shorted out and ignited the fire – employees may have erred in not calling the fire department immediately – employees were trying to do good, but they were trying to fight the fire before calling 911 – they waited until they realized it was something they couldn’t control)

Cutting Torch To Blame In Plainview, NE Co-Op Fire (a cutting torch is being blamed for a costly fire at the Co-op – investigators say workers were using a cutting torch while working on some equipment in the shop area when they left for another building to unload a fertilizer truck – when one of the employees came back to the front garage door, they noticed the smoke and flames that engulfed the whole structure – the blaze destroyed their offices and shop… causing $250,000 in damage)

UPDATE Propane Leak Could Be Cause of Blaze (witness accounts to federal investigators looking into a fire at a refinery suggest that liquid propane ignited to cause the blaze – some contents of three 1-ton chlorine cylinders also may have been released due to exposure to the fire)

ManApril 29, 200711:12 a.m. in the basement – one worker, part of a team of contract employees working on the power lines, sufferedApril 29, 2007April 29, 2007April 29, 2007April 29, 2007target=”nw”>Factory Explosion Kills One, Injures 10 Others (an explosion at a factory manufacturing gunpowder killed one factory worker and injured 10 others – two of the victims were seriously injured – a witness said he heard a thundering sound on his way to the plant and was blown over backward by the explosion – he said bricks and broken glass from the plant were scattered in every direction – officials at the factory claimed that waste gunpowder, which comes from the manufacturing process, does not explode easily, even if it is set on fire)

Welder’s torch sparks fire; three displaced (sparks from a welding torch started a fire at the apartments – workers were welding metal steps onto an apartment building when sparks and heat from the torch set the building on fire)

Firefighter dies after being trapped in burning house (a volunteer firefighter who was injured when a floor collapsed beneath him in a burning home has died – he became trapped in the basement of the burning house – seven other firefighters suffered lesser injuries rescuing him – he was an Indiana certified first class firefighter who was trained in arson investigation – he had been part of the department for about 10 years as secretary and training coordinator)

Inspector Burned in ‘Freak Accident’, A man inspecting a fire control system was burned last week in what fire authorities are calling a freak accident. The man was checking components of a McDonald’s fire suppression system when the accident happened.

POWER PLANT EXPLOSION KILLS WORKER, Nine others injured, On Jan. 8, a powerful explosion at a coal-burning power plant in southeast Ohio killed one worker and injured nine others. A delivery driver was unloading liquid hydrogen into cylinders just outside the Muskingum River power plant, owned by American Electric Power, when the explosion occurred. Plant officials are unsure whether the truck or hydrogen tubes exploded or if there was another cause, a company spokesperson said. The delivery driver was killed and nine AEP employees were hospitalized, mostly with cuts and bruises. There was no major damage to the plant, which employs 210 workers. Hydrogen gas, which is highly explosive, is delivered to the plant about once a week and is used to cool steam generators.

Worker burned at welding job (a 44-year-old man was airlifted to a Medical Center after sustaining second-degree burns during a welding job – he was burned on both legs from his waist down after the plastic bucket he was carrying, which was filled with flammable liquid, caught fire)

Fire Guts Socorro Business (the owner of the building says his employees were welding inside of the business late inot the evening and left the premises around 5:30 p.m. – fire fighters rushed to the business just after 8:30 after smoke was seen pouring from a warehouse – crews now believe an ember from the welding may have been left behind, causing the fire)

Gas line explosion kills apprentice (a gas line explosion killed an apprentice lineman, 27, he died from injuries he sustained after a trencher he was operating hit a high-pressure natural gas line)

3 dead in Milwaukee factory blast (5:03 pm) — Rescuers searched for workers missing in the rubble of a Milwaukee industrial warehouse destroyed in an explosion Wednesday that killed three

Coal mine where 5 died sealed up (2:00 am) — A Kentucky coal mine where five men died in an explosion earlier this year has been sealed up and abandoned. The owners of Kentucky Darby Mine No. 1

Worker saves man’s life after industrial explosion (worker was using a plasma cutter to cut the top off an empty barrel that once contained a diesel fuel additive when the barrel exploded and caught him on fire – another worker who works next door at Way Oil Co., heard the explosion, looked out his window and saw the man on fire – he grabbed a fire extinguisher, rushed out and sprayed down the man – the man suffered a broken arm and received second- and third-degree burns over 40 percent of his body)

President’s Island Fire Caused By Worker’s Tool (a fire at a company was caused by a worker using a cutting torch – heat from the torch caught some wax on fire – the worker was using the torch to cut down the container holding the wax – the fire did not release any hazardous fumes and no one was hurt)

No injuries, minor damage from fire at Flint North (a welding machine fire at the complex resulted in no injuries and minor damage – the blaze, which erupted about noon, was extinguished by the plant’s fire brigade – the Fire Department was called, but the fire was out by the time they arrived – the plant was not evacuated, but windows were opened to air out the area – the welding machine apparently caught a filter on fire in the complex – plant builds torque converters)

FIRE CREWS RESPOND TO WATER STORAGE TANK FIRE AT TJC (fire department was called to a fire about 8:45 a.m. when smoke started billowing from water cooling storage tank which is being demolished – workers were demolishing the tank, which is being replaced with a newer unit, when the fire broke out – they were using a cutting torch and evidently some of the plastic material inside the unit caught on fire)

Fire crews feel way through smoke in ship (thick black smoke belched from a lake freighter that caught fire while crews were working on it – no one was hurt as firefighters struggled to douse the blaze below decks in the ship – the fire broke out at 10:45 a.m. while workers replacing its engine were cutting steel with a torch – to reach the fire, 21 firefighters had to feel their way through the heavy smoke, the result of oil and lubricant that caught fire)

3-Alarm Fire at Las Vegas Shopping Mall (a fast moving fire destroyed seven businesses in a strip mall and 14 other businesses were damaged – it appears workers started the fire while on the building’s roof – a firewall on each side of the fire stopped the flames from destroying other offices – a welders torch being used on a roof may have started the fire – two workers were welding to install a kitchen duct that caught wood in the roof on fire – no injuries are reported)

Fire engulfs bus in Oakland (the fire started as the bus was being dismantled – a man using a cutting torch sent a spark into the hydraulic line, setting off the fire)

Man cited for allegedly igniting salvage-yard fire (a man was cited for recklessly causing a fire after sparks from his cutting torch ignited nearby debris in a salvage yard – the man, 59, was cited, and the property owner may be billed for the cost of suppressing the fire, which was kept to one acre – the fire grew quickly and ignited several railroad ties, about 150 heavy-equipment tires, salvaged motor homes and other salvage parts)

Man severely burnt in gas explosion (a man is critically ill with burns after a gas cylinder exploded in his face – the 50-year-old worker who suffered head injuries and serious burns to his face – remains in a critical condition)

Fire in Lithuanian oil refinery (the fire which broke out in the oil refinery is under control and investigation into its cause have begun – it is clear that the losses are heavy – experts say it was oil spillage on an area of about 800 square meters and then there was some explosion which caused the huge fire – the accident did not take place on the main sector of the refinery)

Fire at South St. Paul plant likely accidental (investigators believe the fire that destroyed a chemical plant likely was accidental – cause of the fire wasn’t known but there’s no reason to believe it was anything but an accident – fire caused an estimated two million dollars in damage – more than 15-hundred workers had to be evacuated from nearby businesses because of the thick black smoke and toxic fumes – no one was hurt)

Burger King fire caused by roofer’s torch, A fire in the roof of a Burger King was caused by a spark from a roofer’s torch that smoldered for 11 hours before igniting, crews quickly extinguished the fire that did moderate damage to the roof but no damage to the interior of the restaurant, a contractor was working on the roof using a torch but had finished work, roofers using torches are required by law to remain on the scene for a time after they stop work to make sure the tool does not spark a fire, he complied with that rule and stayed an hour, but apparently a spark stayed alive in the roof structure all that time before it went up.

Fire breaks out at construction site near community hospital (according to Assistant Fire Marshal, around 11 a.m. welders were working on the roof of future medical condos – the workers were welding near some platforms of styrofoam insulation wrapped in shrink wrap, when a spark caught the platforms on fire)

Company may see bill for fire (contractor reportedly responsible for accidentally starting the Sierra Fire will likely be on the hook for the cost of fighting the 640-acre blaze – company is under contract for the ongoing freeway improvements on Interstate 15 at the base of tMay 12, 2007rch to cut steel bars as part of a guard rail replacement project on the Lytle Creek bridge at the top of the SiMay 12, 2007May 12, 2007May 12, 2007May 12, 2007 several vehicles including forklifts, five flatbed trucks, a pickup truck and six trailers were destroyed – damage was estimated at $1.2 million – the cost of fighting the fire still has to be calculated but will be significant – it could easily exceed $1 million – there was a worker below to keep an eye out for fires, but with Santa Ana winds blowing, it took off before it could be extinguished)

Fire at Natick Mall (embers from a construction worker’s welding ignited a combination of grease and dust under an escalator, a hot ember got in the wall behind the escalator)

Fire at Toys Scrap and Salvage (a worker was cutting a gas tank out of a mini van, the tank fell to the ground, gas shot up and was ignited by the torch the worker was holding – the worker was able to escape and wasn’t injured)

Cutting Torch Ruled Cause Of South Loop Fire (a cutting torch being used to cut components of a boiler has been determined to be the cause of a 5-11 fire, which led to the destruction of a historic building and major disruption of train and vehicular traffic)

Blast kills worker at small Pennsylvania coal mine (an explosion in a coal mine killed a miner – five others escaped – blast happened 2,300 feet underground – it appeared the blast occurred when miners detonated explosives – the miners had checked for methane gas before the 10:30 a.m. detonation but detected none)

Fire damages Schwan’s Bakery (the fire started in one of the larger, older ovens at the facility – flames spread in a square-shaped 50-yard-long oven, and bakery employees called firefighters after they were unable to contain the blaze – there were no injuries and the bakery sustained no structural damage)

Accident Forces ORNL Evacuation (an adverse chemical reaction at the Laboratory has caused the evacuation of a building – a lab worker was pouring nitric acid into a glass container of a copper solution – the chemical reaction caused the container to burst – one lab worker was working in the area where the accident occurred, but was not injured – the building’s ventilation system was able to remove the fumes associated the incident, but the building was evacuated as a precaution)

Several treated after Houston plant accident (at least four people required medical attention after a container apparently burst at a plant that deals with chemicals – accident involved a 55-gallon drum – some workers who were nearby complained of exposure to sulfuric acid – officials don’t believe the injuries, including chemical burns and inhalation problems, are life-threatening)

Worker Is Burned By Chemicals (a man had to be taken to hospital with burns to his face and neck after a pipe full of caustic soda burst over him while he was working – the pipe burst, spraying him with the chemical, also known as lye or sodium hydroxide, which can cause burning on contact with skin – he was treated for burns on his face, neck and hands)

Explosion at factory in Osaka Pref. hurts 2 (an explosion at a chemical factory, which manufactures thermal insulation, injured two factory workers – the 30-year-old and 33-year-old employees suffered burns to the face and back – the 250-square-meter factory building was destroyed by the explosion and the fire – the explosion was likely a dust explosion caused by aluminum particulate)

UPDATE Milwaukee Explosion (an explosion at the plant on December sixth happened as workers tested a backup propane system that was more than 30 years old)

Blast injures three (three people were injured in a welding mishap sending all three by LifeFlight to out-of-town hospitals – received severe burns when a tank exploded at a scrap yard  – the two  were cutting a tank for scrap when an explosion occurred – the explosion and the subsequent blast ignited an unknown liquid, which burned until members of the Fire Department, and other bystanders could extinguish the blaze)

Hydrocracker fire at Esso under control at Esso refinery (a fire caused by an explosion in a processing unit at its refinery is under control with no injuries reported and all workers accounted for – cause of the explosion hasn’t been determined)

Explosion in Shemkir ship kills two (three men were slightly injured and a man died as a result of the accident – the gas in the ship’s pipe caused explosion during welding)

Fire at FW skateboard factory (a that makes skateboards, surfboards and snowboards was heavily damaged when a four-alarm fire ripped through the plant – highly flammable resins used in the manufacturing process apparently helped fuel the fire – no one was hurt – under investigation)

Blaze hits recycling plant (pallets were stacked 25 high in parts of the yard – the fire consumed all or parts of pallets stacked within a 20,000- to 30,000-square-foot area – investigators had not determined a cause)

Explosion disrupts Taiwan solar cell material plant (An explosion at a plant operated by Taiwan’s Green Energy Technology Inc., a maker of solar cell raw materials, has left two dead – explosion occurred at one of the company’s 26 crystal growing systems – cause of the explosion is under investigation)

Six injured in timber yard fire in Visegrád (a storage unit at a lumber yard exploded and caught fire injuring six – the blaze was successfully extinguished, and the injured taken to a nearby hospital – in the storage room, where the fire started, wood, paints and solvents were stored – one of the employees noticed that a can of solvent was punctured, and wanted to take the can outside – while walking towards the exit, the highly flammable liquid dripped across the floor, eventually catching fire near the boiler)

No one hurt in small plant fire (management is investigating what caused a small fire on the coker hopper loading conveyor – no injuries, no effect on plant operations nor any effect on the outside community – the fire occurred at about 6:45 a.m. at the back of the plant at a coker unit that is used to break down heavy crude oil – a byproduct of the coker unit, a rocklike substance called coke, is placed on the conveyor belt to be loaded into railcars and transported outside the facilities)

Electrical problem sparks factory fire (a fire at a plastic factory was caused by an electrical problem – just before 5 a.m., firefighters were called to the plant – there was damage to the plant, but no one was injured)

Petro-Canada charged after fatal rig explosion (three companies are facing charges in connection with an explosion that killed a gas rig worker two years ago – a rig pipe broke as it was being pulled from an oil well, igniting gas at a sweet natural gas well)

Fire in Vassalboro considered accidental (employees were welding in the area in which the fire started before they took a lunch break in another part of the building – when the workers returned to the welding area after lunch, the fire had already broken out)

One killed, 32 injured in fireworks factory blast in China (at least one person was killed, 32 people injured and six still missing after a fireworks factory explosion – accident occurred when a storehouse exploded around 6:20 pm when 202 people were working)

Malvern man dies in plant explosion, Two men were killed when an explosion occurred at an aluminum recycling plant, another April 29, 2007 explosion occurred about 3:10 a.m. toward the rear of the production department where aluminum is melted down forApril 29, 2007April 29, 2007April 29, 2007April 29, 2007Federal Agencies Investigate Industrial AccidentProduction at oil refinery not affected with accident, It was still premature and difficult to assess damage inflicted at a crude-refining unit of the facility that caught fire, refinery is safe and the accident “was contained,” and there were no injuries as a result of the accident – no other details.

Fire shuts down refinery unit (there were no injuries – no other details)

Explosions At Oil Plant Fire Rock Iowa Town (dozens of firefighters are battling a massive blaze at an oil plant – the fire has caused a number of explosions – the warehouse stores motor oil, bulk oil and air filters – no employees were injured, however, one firefighter was treated for smoke inhalation – officials said they won’t speculate and wApril 29, 2007e)

Three injured in blaze at fireworks plant (three people have been taken to hospital following a blaze at a fireworks factory – one person was being treated for smoke inhalation and two were being treated for shock after the blaze broke out last night at the factory – two containers laden of fireworks caught alight and exploded during the blaze, causing rockets to shoot high into the air)

Seven dead, one injured in explosion in Isani-Samgori (an explosion of oxygen cylinders left six people dead and two injured – officials are investigating the causes of the explosion, but they are refraining from making comments – according to unconfirmed information, the cause of the explosion could be linked to the negligence of station personnel – explosion was so strong it dismembered victims’ bodies and shattered windows in houses and cars at a distance up to one kilometre from the blast)

Pendleton County plant worker injured (a worker at a plant was burned with lime – did not know the extent of the injuries)

Michigan City Man Recovering From Steel Mill Burns (a man is struggling to recover from severe burns after he was blasted with intensely hot air at a steel plant – he and two other workers were checking out a problem with a blast furnace when a pipe that supplies hot air burst open – much of the clothing Oberle was wearing was charred to a crisp – he found a way to walk out of the facility despite his burns – the other two workers scrambled, trapped by stairs – one had to crawl out)

Two workers hurt in natural gas explosion (painters working on the home reported the smell of natural gas – as gas workers tried to shut it off, the gas ignited – explosion caused a large fire that engulfed the two-story home – the flames spread to the house next door, causing some damage to its exterior – the cause of the initial leak is still under investigation, though the gas company April 29, 2007nes while digging)

Explosion rocks St. James ammonia plant (no one was injured after an explosion at an ammonia plant – explosion could be felt several miles away – blast occurred in a pipe carrying hydrogen to be mixed with nitrogen and then converted into ammonia – static electricity ignited the flammable hydrogen escaping from the piping)

3 hurt in explosion at tanker-trailer maker (an explosion tore through a business where tanker-trailers are made seriously injuring two men, damaging nearby buildings and blowing out windows throughout an industrial area of the city – a 57-year-old man suffered multiple lacerations and a 64-year-old man suffered chemical burns, a third man suffered minor injuries when a light fixture fell on him at a nearby funeral home – cause of the midmorning blast inside the Tank Company is being investigated – there was no fire after the blast, which caused severe damage to the tank company and also damaged three nearby buildings – windows were also blown out nearby in the industrial area – KJTV-TV in Lubbock reported the explosion was heard as far away as the town of Idalou, 14 miles to the northeast)

Worker injured in minor explosion (a worker at a mine clearance company has been flown to hospital with arm and leg injuries after he was caught in a minor explosion – accident happened during the disposal of out-of-date ordnance)

At least eight dead in Mexico fuel tanker blast (an explosion on a fuel tanker in a petrochemical port complex killed six workers and two others were missing, feared dead – the blast ripped through the tanker when a spark from maintenance works ignited fuel vapors inside the ship’s empty tanks –

Port closed down after gas leak (a busy port had to be closed overnight after a gas leak on board a tanker at an oil refinery – port was shut when a faulty valve caused a leak on a tanker taking liquid propane gas – there were fears the gas could ignite and the port was closed to all shipping after a gas cloud formed)

Major Gas Leak In India Near Bhopal (about 200 people have been admitted to hospitals with severe breathing problems after an unknown gas leaked from an industrial plant near Bhopal – an official says people were complaining today of severe breathing problems and itching in their eyes – authorities have been trying to find out whether the leaked gas was ammonia or chlorine)

Flare-up at the former EQ plant has Apex residents on edge (two weeks after a massive explosion forced residents from their homes, town officials said another fire was smoldering at the former hazardous materials storage plant)

Fire damaged South Bend business (fire investigators say cutting torches sparked the fire – contractors were using them to take apart machinery – that is when ceiling materials caught fire – all workers were evacuated safely and no injuries were reported)

4th body found after Gulf of Mexico pipeline blast (the body of a fourth barge worker was found as the search continued for two people still missing after a natural gas pipeline exploded off the Louisiana coast – blast occurred when a barge – one of two being pushed by a Gulf of Mexico tugboat – hit the pipeline in West Cote Blanche Bay, about two miles from shore and 100 miles southwest of New Orleans)

Explosion at Kuwaiti oil refinery sparks fire; terrorism not …, An explosion rocked an oil refinery sparking a fire that temporarily closed the plant, no injuries were reported, more than 800 people were evacuated and the fire burned for three hours before firefighters extinguished it.

Construction worker hurt in gas line fire (a construction worker was injured, and flames shot into the air for more than an hour after a gas line break – a contractor digging a trench to lay electrical lines broke into a 40-pound gas main shortly – the gas ignited, injuring the man operating the trencher and sending rolling flames about 20 feet into the air)

Worker, hit by 13,000 volts, survives (a sanitation worker was shocked with more than 13,000 volts of electricity when he April 29, 2007age truck – worker, 22, was conscious and speaking to co-workers later in the day after paramedics revived him at the scene – he was driving down the road when he slid off the dirt roadway in soft sand – the truck fell onto a power pole, snapping it in two and leaving live wires dangling – started to put out orange road triangles to warn other motorists of his tilted truck, and he pulled himself up from the ground by accidentally grabbing the power line)

Workers Burned In Refinery Fire (two refinery workers are recovering after being burned in a fire – one of the refinery’s processing machines malfunctioned, setting parts of the roof on fire – it was some type of explosion that caught some of the insulation on fire – they did investigate – turned out to be something minor – unfortunately, they did have two employees that did get injured)

Big fire burns down plastic furniture factory in Chachoengsao (a huge fire burnt down a big plastic furniture factory and a rescue worker was injured during the fire fighting – fire fighters could only prevent the fire from spreading to other buildings and waited for the blaze to consume itself – no other details)

Refinery shoots fireballs from stack (a refinery flare burped out fireballs rather than burning waste oil at a safe height – the flare system separates oil residue from natural gas and burns the waste oil – but a maApril 29, 2007thick oil up the 50-foot stack, shooting them another 50 feet into the air)

April 29, 2007April 29, 2007April 29, 2007April 29, 2007he blaze without shutting down the plant – one firefighter suffered heat exhaustion and was treated and released – fire officials are investigating the blaze, which began inside the plant’s metal wall – the fire smoldered in the insulation on the fourth and fifth floors)

Fire at packaging plant sends one to hospital (an employee was rushed to a Medical Center after suffering smoke inhalation due to a small fire that started inside the plant – there is a cardboard compactor inside and the fire started in there – no word on cause)

Blast Levels Milwaukee Warehouse, Kills Three A massive explosion and fire Wednesday morning in an industrial complex near downtown Milwaukee killed three people and injured nearly four dozen others, decimating a warehouse and rattling nearby homes and buildings.

Oilfield Explosion Injuries Two People (two workers have been injured in an oilfield explosion – the accident happened as a vacuum truck was unloading fluid into a tank at a waste disposal facility – one worker was airlifted for treatment of severe burns while the second person was treated for burns)

A boiler exploded at a commercial (a boiler exploded at a commercial laundry facility  blowing gaping holes through two walls and seriously injuring an employee – when the explosion occurred at about 5:30 p.m. the main part of the box truck-sized boiler “rocketed off” and soared about 20 feet, blowing a 15-foot wide hole in an exterior wall – the boiler’s end cap shot through an interior concrete block wall, injuring a worker in the loading dock area on the other side – this was strictly a mechanical explosion and there was no fire – a worker did sustain steam burns and other burns from being splashed from the water from the boiler)

3 dead in massive Milwaukee complex fire (the blast that may have started when a large propane tank flattened a warehouse at the factory, killing three people and injuring 46 others – the explosion flipped cars, hurled debris into the air and forced the evacuation of dozens of workers at the plant, which makes large industrial gears and couplings – burning rubble was spread over several blocks – officials had not determined the cause of the accident, but the company began to evacuate workers after a leak occurred in one of six large propane tanks – workers were outside when one of the tanks blew up – the blast could be felt at a firehouse about a mile and a half away)

Fire causes slight damage at motorcycle plant (a small fire caused about $5,000 damage at the plant – no injuries were reported, but dozens of workers were evacuated at the facility – the fire was caused by embers that had gathered in a dust collection unit – the sprinkler system at the plant was immediately activated – the small fire caused no structural damage and fire crews ventilated parts of the building affected by heavy smoke)

Machine fire empties plant (a small fire in a manufacturing process machine injured an employee and forced workers to evacuate the building while firefighters extinguished the flames – the injured employee had been operating the machine when it caught fire – the employee was treated for minor related injuries at a local emergency medical clinic – the fire started shortly before noon in a heat treating unit involved in the manufacturing process of the springs, but it was small and firefighters quickly doused the flames, limiting the damage to the machine and immediate surrounding area)

Welding torch sparks fire at Diamond Jo Casino (a minor fire at the casino was caused by a welding torch – fire happened when workers were welding a steel beam in an area of the casino that’s being expanded – no one was hurt, and there was no evacuation – the torch heated a wall of a storage room, setting off a fire alarm and starting the sprinkler system)

Blaze damages group home (welding in the basement of a Group Home ignited a blaze that caused an estimated $15,000 worth of damage to the 100 year-old structure – extensive build-up of lint in the laundry area caused the fire to spread quickly)

Moisture In Metal Sets Off Explosion A front-end loader operator at a foundry died after a violent explosion shattered his windshield and sprayed him with molten aluminum. He was filling an open-hearth furnace with scrap metal at the time. Find out what could have prevented this fatality.

Chemical plant blast injures three (an explosion in a chemical plant injured three workers in a neighboring factory but did not cause a contamination leak – the three injured haApril 29, 2007s he sustained a head injury – blast took place after a crylic acid tank in the plant overheated and caught fire – the new tank, covering 10 square meters and 15 meters in height, was in trial operation – investigation showed the accident might have been caused by a failure in the plant’s cooling system)

Propane tank leaks, catches fire in Weber County (the five hundred gallon propane tank sits inside a small rail car and is used to heat up rails – the so-called “heat tank” was being used by workers installing a new line in the area – fire started near a valve and workers were told to get out)

Three injured in explosion, fire at Wisconsin fireworks factory (an explosion and fire gutted part of a fireworks factory injuring three people – one of several buildings at the Fireworks property exploded and caught fire about 9:15 a.m., injuring three people inside)

‘Small explosion’ injures two at vocational high school in Easton (one student and one adult suffered minor injuries after a “small explosion” – explosion may have been touched off by a plumber’s torch – the accident was still under investigation – incident occurred in the basement of a new building under construction at the high school – several windows and a door were destroyed in the building, but there was no fire)

Cooling units at plant catch fire (two giant cooling units caught fire at a local industrial plant causing $100,000 in damages – firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze in 30 minutes – no buildings were damaged during the fire and there were no injuries – the cause of the fire is under investigation)

Dalton Fire Claims One Man’s Life (a fire broke out at a recycling plant, and it has been confirmed one worker didn’t make it out alive – he was working the nightshift when a fire broke out – firefighters are still watching hotspots in the fire that left one man dead -firefighters were able to enter the building late Saturday night and found the body)

Three injured in El Palito accident, no force majeure (an accident at the fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit  has left three contract workers injured – one of the injured suffered burns to 70% of his body – the second suffered first-degree burns and the third was treated and released from the hospital)

Fuel fire sends worker to hospital (a worker suffered second- and third-degree burns in a fuel tanker fire – the man was apparently filling a stationary diesel tank from a truck when the fuel caught fire and spilled – about 500 gallons of fuel were burned – the cause of the fire is under investigation)

Hess Corporation Port Reading Refinery Temporarily Shut Down (a small fire in a pump occurred – the fire was quickly extinguished by plant personnel and there were no injuries – the refinery has been temporarily shut down while inspections and repairs are performed)

Local Man Killed In AEP Explosion (investigators are trying to determine what caused an explosion that killed a man and injured nine others at a coal-burning power plant – the explosion killed 61-year-old truck driver who was delivering pressurized hydrogen – he was unloading hydrogen into cylinders)

Welder’s torch sparks fire; three displaced (sparks from a welding torch started a fire at the apartments – workers were welding metal steps onto an apartment building when sparks and heat from the torch set the building on fire)

Blast rocks Franklin tire plant (an air and steam chamber exploded and shot across the work floor and through a garage door – a worker was injured, and there was much damage to the building – workers were on break shortly past noon when an alarm was heard in the facility’s 100-by-60-foot steel-frame warehouse and retreading center – one worker went into the room to assess the situation when the facility’s high-pressure metal autoclave and curing chamber exploded – the large metal object, resembling the shape of a hot-water heater, was situated nearly in the middle of the warehouse area when an end cap shot into one wall and the rest of the machine hurtled approximately 75 feet through a garage door and into the parking lot – awesome photo @ link)

1 injured in explosion at Electric Boat laboratory (one worker was injured when a methane gas leak caused an explosion – the explosion occurred at 1:20 p.m. in a small chemistry laboratory, where the fire alarm and sprinkler system were activated immediately)

Fire at refinery sends 1 to hospital (two small explosions and fire at the refinery injured one person – the fire was extinguished within 20 minutes of the call reporting the incident – the injured individual, a refinery employee working near the site of the fire, was treated for “minor cuts and bruises” – explosion and fire originated in a unit that the refinery uses to separate fuels and oil from waste water before sending it downstream)

Fire hot spots all out at Tegal chicken processing plant (no details)

WELDING IN A CONFINED SPACE ACCIDENT!!! Workers escape safely from fire in gasoline storage tank (three workers escaped safely when fire broke out in an empty, 1.5 million-gallon gasoline storage tank where they were doing maintenance – workers were using cutting torches and accidentally ignited a small pocket of unleaded gasoline that had been unnoticed – after getting out of the tank, the workers went back in and put out most of the blaze with dry-chemical fire extinguishers)

Belt catches fire at Federal Mogul (a belt used in one of the plant’s processes caught fire, requiring firefighters to use a dry chemical to put it out – belt gets extremely hot and sometimes it catches fire)

Giant: Fire shuts down Ciniza refinery (the fire was in a heater used within a unit that makes ultra low sulfur diesel – no other details)

Worker escapes major injury (an explosion has left a maintenance worker with burns to his right arm – but police say the incident could have easily proven tragic – the worker was changing a propane cylinder on propane-powered torch in the maintenance room when the explosion occurred – the cause of the accident is being investigated, and none of the residence’s 46 residents were injured or had been evacuated – the explosion knocked the steel door of the room off its hinges but, fortunately, was directed away from the worker)

Explosion rocks Carolina Polymers plant (all employees were evacuated and there were no injuries – vapors ignited an explosion that blew out panels on the building that were specifically designed to dissipate the impact of an explosion)

Damage hits $300k in City Hall fire (a spark from a welder’s torch smoldered for hours, touching off a two alarm blaze that caused $300,000 in damage to part of City Hall – welder reportedly noticed an errant spark land on flammable material around 2:30 p.m. and splashed water in the general area in an attempt to extinguish it – he later left the job site, unaware that it continued to smolder – it wasn’t until midnight that a motorist on Interstate 15 saw smoke in the area and alerted authorities – about the same time, the fire alarm sounded for a water flow, and four sprinkler heads activated and basically saved the structure)

Spark starts fire that blocks city artery (a welding accident in a panel-beating workshop sparked a ferocious fire that closed a busy city thoroughfare in both directions – it was “amazing” how quickly the workshop went up in flames, forcing him to run for safety as paint cans exploded – “Me, my son and nephew were MIG-welding in the spray booth and a little inch of flame started with a spark on the exhaust outlet,” – “By the time we had grabbed a bucket of water and hose the whole exhaust stack was on flames, and the rest is history. “I was trying to put it out, but with all the smoke and the fumes if I’d stayed another five minutes I’d be dead by now.”)

Chemical plant blast kills 3 in Gansu (at least three people were killed in an explosion accident at a chemical plant – accident occurred at around 9:00 am at an explosives storage facility – accident killed at least three people, while the number of the injured is still being calculated)

Fire at Seaford Nylon Plant (according to plant officials, shortly after noon, excessive smoke was noticed coming out of one of the plant’s smokestacks – officials learned that a firebox that heats the chemical Dowtherm-A- used in nylon production- began to overheat – safety concerns prompted plant officials to disconnect the firebox’s fuel source – the fire has been contained and is in the process of burning itself out -there were no injuries and plant officials say the fire poses no threat to the surrounding community or the environment)

UPDATE Condition of victim in mill plant explosion improves (worker, 37, was hit by a roiling ball of flames – his co-worker on third shift, was blown out of the mill by the force of the explosions – exact cause of the explosion and the amount of damage are being investigated)

Leaking gas pipe explodes, burns four (a 40-year-old father of two, worked in a local cardboard factory – his neck got caught in a machine and he died instantly)

Explosion at coal mine traps 13 in West Virginia (a coal mine explosion, which may have been sparked by lightning, trapped 13 miners 260 feet below ground – rescuers went in to find them after waiting almost 12 agonizing hours for dangerous gases to clear)

Landfill Fire Forces Evacuations (a fire at the Landfill is contained to a one acre area – but the smoke and potential dangers in it have forced the evacuation of four schools and at least 10 families – cause of the fire is still under investigation)

Fire at Ainsworth’s OSB Plant in Grand Rapids, Minnesota (company is evaluating the impact of a fire that damaged the company’s oriented strand board (OSB) manufacturing plant – alert employees reported the fire shortly after 6:00 A.M. local time – all 30 employees on site were immediately evacuated and no injuries were reported – plant’s major production equipment did not suffer serious physical damage as a result of the fire, which was generally limited to the wood strand storage area – the full extent of the damage has not yet been determined and may not be known for several days)

UPDATE 4:49pm | Dust blamed in plant explosions (dust ignited by an unknown source was to blame for several explosions at a livestock feed plant – one worker was killed and another was seriously injured)

Roof fire damages manufacturing plant (a furnace used to heat metal overheated about 6 a.m. and fire spread to the ceiling – nearly 30 firefighters battled flames for 25 minutes before the fire was extinguished – no one was injured)

One Person Injured In Plant Explosion (one person was hospitalized after an explosion – the blast happened around 3:30 a.m. in a small room that grinds plastic into parts for cars – one person was in the building at the time of the explosion and was taken to University Hospital – were investigating the cause of the blast)

Fire At A Petro Canada Refinery Under Control (a fire that broke out at a Refinery has been kept under control – residents in the area were asked to stay in their homes as firefighters battled the blaze – there are no serious injuries to report. – there was one Firefighter who was treated for smoke inhalation on-site)

Construction worker burned on face (a construction worker helping renovate a home was seriously burned when a fire that was started to thaw a pile of sand flared up in his face – the man, 35, was working when someone in the construction crew started a fire on sand that had become wet and froze)

Two city parks workers injured after propane ignites (an explosion at a city parks garage sent two workers to the hospital – an emergency worker says two parks workers were burned when propane from a leaf blower ignited – one of the men suffered third degree burns – they were working over the carburetor area but basically trying to start it it back-flashed up through the carburetor – one gentleman had burns to the face and his left arm and the other gentleman had burns to his left arm)

Savannah River Site worker burned (a worker at the site suffered minor burns while cleaning a container used to make powders – two workers were cleaning with alcohol at the old nuclear weapons plant when a small flash fire started – suffered burns to the right side of his face, head and neck and will need a skin graft)

Explosion in Hillsborough injures two oil workers (authorities are investigating what caused a tanker truck to explode leaving two employees in critical condition from severe burns – were working on a rear valve in the tanker truck at the western side of the property when the truck exploded and caught fire – the truck, which was empty during the 3:21 p.m. blast, normally is used to transport liquid asphalt – the explosion’s cause is unknown)

Two Men Flown Out of Refinery After Receiving Burns (the men were preparing some equipment for routine maintenance when they were burned – the men were burned when some hydrogen gas was briefly ignited during this maintenance)

Explosion mangles factory (no one was hurt in the accident and a small fire was quickly brought under control – there was no immediate word on the cause)

Fire hits Entec Resins plant (plant was evacuated after a fire ignited in one of the manufacturing company’s ventilation units because of a dirty filter – a petroleum waste, which is a by-product of resin, caught fire inside a centrally located vent and acted like a candle fueling the fire)

Fire flashes through paint factory (a fire and a series of explosions ripped through a paint factory leaving three people critically injured – cause of the explosions was unclear, and there was no immediate estimate of damages to the factory and another building)

Four hurt in Netherlands shopping centre blast (the explosion appeared to have been caused by a gas leak as a local energy company was carrying out repairs – at least one of the four people injured was a construction worker)

Fire damages DPW garage (officials are investigating the cause of a blaze that resulted in over $12,000 in damage – no injuries – garage was the scene of a fire in November)

Neste Oil: Explosion At Nynas, Sweden Crude Refinery -2- (an explosion and fire at Nynas Refinery south of Stockholm should be under control within 30 minutes – no-one was injured at the refinery – the cause of the explosion was not yet known, but gas and oil leaks were feeding the fire)

Worker Burned At Area Recycling Plant (a worker at a County recycling plant is hurt following an accident involving an aluminum furnace – worker was putting metal into a furnace used to melt aluminum when he was hurt  – appears that he was burned when some condensation on the metal burst under the intense heat – the worker had on safety gear, but he suffered first-degree burns on his chin, ear and neck)

UPDATE Worker dies from tanker blast burns (a worker burned in a tanker-truck explosion has died from his injuries – co-worker, 37, remains in critical condition in the hospital’s burn unit – were working on a rear valve in the tanker truck when the truck exploded and caught fire – the truck, which was empty during the 3:21 p.m. blast, is used to transport liquid asphalt – the explosion’s cause is unknown)

Fire extinguished at Russia’s Komsomolsk refinery (ten 60-tonne oil product storage tanks caught fire at Rosneft’s Komsomolsk refinery in Russia but the blaze was quickly put out – spokesman declined to comment on the fire)

Wood-chipping plant fire contained (a 15m-high stack of mulch and timber had caught fire at the yard – it will take firefighters all day to put the blaze out completely)

Fire Destroys Trailer Manufacturing Plant (the fire started after an explosion, but there is no official word on what caused the fire – the plant appears to be a complete loss)

Viscous attack: Grease traps worker (worker, 17, was getting a hands-on education in HVAC work by helping his stepfather’s company clean the ducts when he slipped 12 feet down the grease-caked opening of a roof exhaust the size of a small box — accidentally triggering the chemical fire extinguishers)

Oil field fire ignited by company pickup (a fire burned about 50 acres – the fire began when an oil field pickup truck pulled into tall grass and its hot undercarriage caught the grass on fire)

Trex byproduct material catches fire (a pile of composite byproduct that is stored at the decking and railing manufacturing plant in a contained area caught fire – byproducts from the manufacturing process are placed in a containment area to cool and due to the holidays more material had accumulated in the containment area and the heat from inside the material ignited)

Fire at Fuba’s Gittelde PCB Plant (nobody was hurt and the damage to the property and equipment has to be determined – no word on cause)

Two said missing in W.Virginia mine fire: official (two miners have been reported missing after a fire broke out at a coal mine)

UPDATE Tank explosion at Taiyo Oil Japan refinery kills 2 (five people appeared to be unaccounted for and two others were likely dead)

Fire at Toledo factory sends smoke over city (all of the factory’s employees got out of the building – at least one person has been taken to a hospital – no other details)

Boiler explodes in industrial estate (a boiler burst disrupting power and destroying the compound wall of a small industry unit – there were no casualties – workers in adjoining units recalled a sound like a bomb going off, the ground shaking)

Fire at new Bangkok airport leaves one dead; will still open in … (a construction worker died at the facility – one person died in the fire and three people were injured, mostly from jumping out of windows as the fire engulfed the building – fire was caused by an accident during construction)

None hurt in Pittsburg refinery fire (a small fire was extinguished at the oil refinery – the fire’s first alarm was called when an asphalt tank’s overflow caught nearby insulation on fire – the asphalt was emptied from one tank into another tank as a precaution – no injuries were reported)

Riddle man dies in accident at logging site (worker, 37, was pouring gasoline on the fire, which caused the 8:10 a.m. explosion- worker’s partner had gone up the road and then returned to find him dead – the two had been working on equipment at a landing site near the logging operation)

UPDATE Bad plug cause of fatal blast (a rubber plug in a check valve that got hung up in an empty water line allowed acetylene gas to back up into a shed and most likely ignite on the 1,100-degree core of a space heater, killing three men and seriously injuring a fourth at a city plant last year)

Dust blamed for blast at chemical plant (authorities said dust is to blame for a blast at a chemical plant – officials said it was caused by a build-up of dust in a dryer unit on the third floor of the building – no injuries)

Fire destroys Chester County mushroom cannery (a family owned mushroom cannery burned to the ground in a fast-moving fire that apparently started in the boiler room – maintenance workers reported the boiler room fire – the workers were successfully evacuated)

Fire breaks out at Makarpura GIDC factory (a major fire gutted its store containing imported raw materials as well as finished goods – no loss of life or injury to any of the workers was reported – exact cause of the fire could not be known immediately)

Fatal mine blast being investigated (a miner has been killed in an underground explosion that rocked a nickel mine – worker, 32, an employee of mining contractor was working about 900m underground when the explosion occurred – no-one else was injured in the explosion, the cause of which is not yet known)

Worker Burned at McCormick Spice Company (no details other than it was a small fire and a worker was burned)

Man Badly Burned in Hazardous Waste Disposal Accident (a 47-year-old man is clinging to life, badly burned after a fuel pipe burst  – accident happened at a hazardous waste disposal site – victim has third degree burns over 80-percent of his body – a fuel line broke – when the fuel line busted it saturated the back of his clothing and then ignited – he burned over 80 percent of his body)

Blast injures worker (a factory worker sustained 40 per cent burn injuries in a blast – the blast took place in a casting furnace – factory workers said besides causing a fire, the impact of the explosion broke windowpanes of adjoining industrial sheds, some located more than a 100 metres away)

Dust Explosion in a Specialty Pharmaceutical Plant (the explosion occurred in a blending operation handling particulate bulk solids – multiple ingredients are added to a mixer manually from 50-pound sacks – the mixer is a tumbling type multifaceted drum that is located in a stand alone, dedicated room – an explosion occurred in the mixer drum during the addition of the last but one bag of ingredients – the explosion developed slowly as these things go, with the initial ignition occurring at the bottom of the drum, some 16 feet below the worker who saw the flame as he was pouring the contents of the 50-pound sack into it – incredibly and most fortunately, although injured, this worker was able to turn away in time to avoid what could have easily been a fatal experience)

UPDATE Worker injured in chemical plant explosion dies in burn unit (a worker, 55, severely burned in last week’s chemical plant explosion in North Carolina has died – a federal investigator has said Tuesday’s blast in Morganton was probably caused by a vapor leak from a chemical reactor – the explosion blew out windows a third of a mile away)

One person injured after fire at plant warehouse (one person was injured after a fire and explosion at a chemical plant warehouse – fire occurred about 3:25 p.m. at an aluminum handling warehouse at the plant – a small explosion was also reported – portions of State Highway 225, which runs past the plant, were shut down for a time, backing up traffic for miles – plant’s emergency response team battled the blaze – firefighters from nearby La Porte responded to the scene on a standby basis)

Small fire causes alert at Perry nuclear plant (nuclear power plant operators declared an alert when a fan motor for a plant ventilation system caught fire – the fire, reported at 3:06 p.m., was put out by a plant worker within three minutes using a fire extinguisher – what caused the fire in the plant’s control building remains under investigation,  – no one was injured)

Cable plant worker hurt by chemical explosion (a woman employee was hurt by an explosion fueled by fumes from a barrel of volatile chemicals – she was thrown eight feet while filling a milk carton with isopropyl alcohol, a chemical used to clean assembly equipment – the chemical, stored in a 55-gallon drum, is volatile, and likely was ignited by a static charge created by improperly grounded pumping equipment)

UPDATE OSHA SENDS BP FATAL BLAST CASE TO JUSTICE DEPT. (in what its acting administrator called “one of our more significant accomplishments,” the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has turned over the case of the fatal blast at BP’s Texas City, Texas refinery last year to the Justice Department for investigation and possible criminal prosecution)

Fire shuts down Total’s Dunkirk refinery (a fire which broke out Feb. 10 at the electric power station refinery cut off the plant’s entire electric system and forced a shutdown of the 160,000 b/d facility – the fire was quickly extinguished)

Warehouse Fire (the plant which makes chrome plating housed several containers of chemicals including propane – those chemicals caused several small explosions inside the plant. Luckily no one was inside the plant at the time of the fire – cause of the fire was not known)

Fire does minor damage at FirstEnergy plant (a fire in a coal conveyor belt system at the coal-fired power plant caused minor damage – the fire on the upper floor of the plant was detected about 4:50 p.m. as the facility was preparing for a seven-day maintenance outage)

Three hurt in accident at Reliance (three people were injured, two seriously, when molten aluminum spewed out of a machine – two had burns “to portions of their bodies” and were in stable condition – the accident occurred at about 6:15 p.m. at an aluminum die-cast machine – for reasons company officials don’t yet know, something happened during an aluminum injection process that caused molten aluminum metal to come out of the injection machine)

Cause of crude-oil tank explosion investigated (three workers were at the site when the 49,000-gallon capacity tank exploded and burst into flames – the explosion blew the lid off the tank, landing 100 feet away in a strawberry field – one unidentified 22-year-old male worker received second-degree burns and cuts on his head – no word on cause)

Minor Fire Temporarily Shuts Down Rhea County Plant (ff’s found chemicals burning on top of a reactor in building 6 of the plant – no word on a cause of the fire or a damage estimate)

Garage worker burned in fire (link problems – a man was severely burned in an automobile garage this morning when brake cleaner liquids come in contact with a pilot light and ignited in a fire)

Man killed in factory blast (the blast at the firm tore the roof off the one-storey building – six people managed to flee the workshop after the explosion at 3.30pm, but one worker was trapped inside by wreckage and died in the subsequent fire)

Man burned in explosion at Sparks business (a man was taken to a local hospital with burns to his face and hands after a flash explosion at a business blew out part of the corrugated metal wall of the building – the victim, an unidentified employee was at work when vapors from a gasoline leak caused the explosion – his injuries were not life-threatening – the vapors found that source at an electrical cord which sparked the explosion and blew out part of the corrugated steel wall)

UPDATE Workers improving after plant accident (two workers injured in an accident at a factory remain hospitalized but are making progress toward recovery – the two were burned when molten aluminum was released from a machine at the plant)

Fire capped in Tehran oil refinery (fire in the Tehran Oil Refinery, located south of the Iranian capital, was extinguished about five hours after it broke out by firemen from five fire stations – fire began from one of the luboil tanks in the refinery – no reports as yet on the extent of damage caused – an investigation has been launched to find the cause)

Explosion and fire hits chemical plant in Bakersfield (a raging fire engulfed a chemical storage facility but no one was injured – the blaze at the chemical plant burned throughout a 9,600-square-foot building – the fire began when a 250-gallon container of methanol came in contact with an electrical pump – the flames then engulfed stores of methanol and glycerin – two people were inside at the time but got out unscathed – some news reports are stating that a forklift accident sparked the blaze and 10,000 gallons of glycerin was on fire)

Fire razes Shell oil well (link issues)

Fire damages UNC chiller plant (a cooling tower caught fire causing an undetermined amount of damage – a firefighter taken to a hospital was in fair condition – no other injuries were reported – fire marshal’s office said the investigation is continuing)

Fire in oil vat clouds Montpelier (the blaze was contained mostly to the vat, which was full of 4,000 gallons of oil, and some electrical components nearby – the fire was extinguished in about 30 minutes – a damage estimate was not available – the factory makes coil springs for vehicle suspensions – the process of quenching them in a vat of oil started the fire)

Worker dies in explosion at fireworks plant (a senior worker died in an explosion at a fireworks plant – worker, 46, died from injuries he suffered in the fire – the storehouse had been used to temporarily store fireworks under production)

Fire Incident at American Biofuels Bakersfield Biodiesel Facility (the accident happened outside of the plant building when, during a transfer of methanol, a small spill occurred that ignited (ignition source unknown, probable cause static electricity) – the plant was in full production mode when the outside fire spread into the building – the operators followed their training and safety procedures and quickly shut down operations – then, when they could not contain the fire with on-site extinguishers, they left the premises and quickly notified the Fire Department and personnel in the other buildings located on the property – no other buildings were affected because they were not in close proximity – unfortunately the plant suffered a total loss of the building and equipment)

Fire extinguished at Joliet chemical plant (firefighters quickly extinguished a fire in a processing unit at the chemical plant – all personnel were accounted for and there were no injuries – the cause of the fire, which was extinguished in about 30 minutes, is under investigation – the unit in question has been shut down and the rest of the plant is operating normally)

Fire breaks out at paper-products firm in Tolleson (a machinery malfunction was blamed for a first-alarm fire that erupted at a paper-products manufacturer – no other details)

Explosion hits mine (the explosion was caused by ignition of methane gas near a rock face where a longwall machine mines coal – all the miners were “successfully withdrawn” within two hours)

One person injured in Windalco explosion (an explosion rocked the number eight vertical digester at about 3.30 p.m., throwing the worker on the roof of the building, injuring him – he was conducting a cleaning operation at the plant when the explosion occurred – suffered injuries to his chest and arms, and is said to be in stable condition and undergoing treatment)

At least 65 die in textile factory fire (at least 65 people were killed and more than 100 hurt when a fire swept through a locked textile factory crowded with night-shift workers – up to 500 people, mainly women, were believed to be working in the textile factory in the southern city of Chittagong when the fire broke out –  firefighters had found the main entrance to the factory locked and were forced to rescue trapped workers by breaking open windows and using ropes)

Two oil workers die as pipeline bursts (two oil workers drowned when a leaking pipeline burst, flooding the 3-meter deep trench in which they were working with an oil emulsion – the accident occurred at an oil gathering line – the two men, aged 42 and 38, had descended into a specially prepared trench to perform the repair when the 17-inch pipe broke, filling the trench with emulsified crude (89 percent water and 11 percent crude) – the workers were unable to climb out of the trench and drowned)

Chemical fire breaks out at Dow Corning (an early morning fire at the facility closed roads and kept firefighters on task for five hours as they worked to extinguish flames – at its peak the fire covered a six- by six-foot area – the time it took to extinguish the process tower fire was a matter of being able to safely get to, and shut off the valve feeding it – no employees were injured in the incident caused by a leak of a chlorosilane-based material, which is a chemical compound consisting of silicon, carbon, hydrogen and chlorine – the cause is still being investigated)

Two workers hurt in Fort Wainwright Fire (two workers are recovering from burns received in an explosion and fire – officials say the civilian workers suffered second-degree burns and lacerations in the fire, which broke out at the coal-fired power plant – the explosion occurred near one of two conveyors that bring coal into the almost 60-year-old plant)

Explosion rocks cereal plant (an explosion at the plant damaged a building but did not injure anyone – an explosion in a dust collection bin was reported at 7:43 a.m – the bin, measuring about 10 feet high and eight feet in diameter, was in the feed plant – the explosion damaged the roof, windows and some fire doors in the building)

Smoke shuts down Byron nuclear plant (a small electrical fire broke out at the Nuclear Generating Station, but it caused no injuries and no radiation was released)

Gas Explosion Rocks Historic Bakery (a popular cookie factory was rocked when a gas problem led to a violent blast – no one was injured in the blast, and no fire broke out – the explosion happened when bakery owner tried to light an old oven)