Industrial Fires & Explosions page 6

Industrial Fires & Explosions Page #6

This page was last updated on  05/06/2010

Three killed in mine tunnel fire
NIIGATA (Kyodo) Three people were killed and eight others injured after a fire broke out inside a mine shaft in Niigata Prefecture on Sunday, police said. Firefighters gather outside the opening of a Myojo Cement Co. mine in Niigata Prefecture after their rescue operation. Tetsuya Hosaka, 23, Katsuhiko Shirai, 59, and Eiichi Mizushima, 42, were rescued from the tunnel by firefighters but died later. All three were employees of Myojo Cement Co., based in Itoigawa in the prefecture. The fire erupted at around 9:55 a.m. in Myojo Cement’s limestone mine in the town of Omi along the Sea of Japan coast, according to firefighters. Eight others suffered either serious or light injuries, the firefighters said. According to the police, the 11 people — seven cement firm workers and four electricians — began a meeting at around 8 a.m. in a break area in the tunnel, located about 6 km from the entrance of the shaft. The fire appeared to have started in the break area, the police said. When the fire started, two people were still in the break area. Police are investigating to determine the cause of the fire. The firefighters said they found four people lying near the area. There were four other electricians, but they escaped from the mine shaft on their own, the police said. According to the cement firm, the mine is located in a mountain about 900 meters above sea level. 

Factory destroyed
YOKOHAMA — A fire broke out in a cardboard factory in Isogo, Kanagawa Prefecture, entirely destroying four buildings of the plant, local police said Sunday. The fire started at the Yokohama factory of a corrugated cardboard manufacturer at around 2:30 a.m. Sunday. It continued for nearly 4 hours and 20 minutes, the police said. A 51-year-old firefighter was injured while trying to extinguish the fire. The factory lines were closed due to the Golden Week holidays and no workers were injured. The fire was discovered by a courier service company employee who came to pick up finished products, and was reported to the factory employees. The factory is located some 500 meters from JR Isogo Station.

Employee killed as furnace bursts
By NATION Correspondent 
A 21-year-old worker died as melting iron burnt through his body in a metal factory. Mr Joseph Nyoike Wainaina, a casual labourer, was working in the metal melting division of Polypipe Company in Kikuyu, Kiambu, when a faulty container burst sending molten metal in all directions. Mr Wainaina, witnesses told the Nation, screamed painfully when the first metal pierced his body. “He tried to run away but fell and another piece of iron pierced him from behind,” a colleague who gave his name as Muiruri said. Two other workers, Mr Simon Onyango and Mr Christopher Onjali, were admitted to Thogoto Mission Hospital with serious burns all over their bodies in the 7pm incident on Wednesday. The metal melting furnace exploded with a bang that was heard more than three kilometres away sending solid metals flying all over the place. Workers accused the company directors of insisting on using the faulty machine while they were aware that its inner lining was worn off. “The furnace is automatic and goes off once something is faulty, but our supervisor kept turning it on whenever it went off saying it would be repaired on Labour Day,” a labourer working in the same shift with Mr Wainaina said. “So many people have been burned in the past but they are usually paid a paltry Sh1,500 for their injuries,” a worker who displayed his injured leg that he claimed was burned in the factory said. Kiambu police boss Atanasius Munyagia described the incident as an accident where nobody “could really be blamed for the unfortunate death and injuries.” 

UPDATE Officials Expanding Probe of Oak Ridge Uranium Fire
May 1, 2003
OAK RIDGE (AP) — The investigation into an explosion and fire at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant is getting some outside expertise. Oak Ridge officials declined to name the specialists coming on board for the investigation, but say they are from several different labs, including the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. The experts will follow the internal probe by BWXT, which manages the Oak Ridge plant for the Energy Department. Officials said three employees at Y-12 were slightly contaminated with radioactivity on April 15th after a canister of wet uranium powder became over-pressurized. After reports last week of a small fire of depleted uranium oxide, officials at the plant acknowledged Tuesday that the fire came after the uranium can exploded. The explosion forced evacuation of the building under an “operational emergency,” the lowest of four emergency designations. 

Oak Ridge plant evacuated, portion of city road closed 
from staff reports 
The Oak Ridge Fire Department put out a propane gas fire Wednesday morning, evacuated a plant and closed a portion of the road to the plant. About 8:30 a.m., firefighters were called to Senior Flextronics Pathway Division plant on Franklin Road when an employee saw flames coming from a storage tank. According to a report by Deputy Fire Chief Laura Davis, the fire was coming from the vaporizer for the 30,000-gallon LPG storage tank. Davis reported that the investigation showed two vaporizers with one closest to the 30,000 gallon tank, and the other next to it, about two feet away. The fire was mostly contained to the first vaporizer with some flame and heat impingement on the second vaporizer unit. The fire damaged no other equipment. Firefighters closed a portion of Fairbanks Road while they put out the fire. The road runs behind the plant. Davis reported that an aluminum regulator was completely destroyed by the fire and that both units were in operation, but not under heavy load, at the time of the fire. Each unit had a constantly lit pilot light at the base of the enclosed cabinet, with a metal guard, then a metal cabinet. The first unit appeared to have had a leak that allowed either liquid or gas product to collect around the pilot light, which provided a ready ignition source. When the regulator failed or was compromised by the heat, the fire was fed by the product line that became open. The most plausible cause for the fire was a leak noted in the liquid product drain for the first vaporizer, Davis reported. The leak allowed the product to be ignited by the pilot light. Maintenance personnel at the scene advised that there had been no problems noted with either vaporizer unit prior to the fire. It should be noted that the area experienced an earthquake the day prior to the fire, Davis reported. The Oak Ridge Utility District had no reports of leaks in natural or liquefied petroleum gas piping caused by the tremor. The fire will be classified as accidental, Davis reported. 

Paint Factory Burns In North Kansas City
May 1, 2003 Story by Kansas City One Channel 
NORTH KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A major fire was extinguished at a paint factory in North Kansas City. The oil fire on the second floor of the Cook Composites and Polymers Co. Thursday afternoon sent firefighters scrambling. The building had just opened in September 2002, KMBC’s Peggy Breit reported. Two maintenance workers spotted the fire and triggered the sprinkler system. The entire complex was evacuated, KMBC’s Peggy Breit reported. The oil came from a leak in the cooling system. Fire crews were able to contain the blaze to the one room where it started. Water cooled the fire, but it was foam that extinguished the flames, Breit said. The fire required the efforts of every North Kansas City firefighter, plus mutual aid from the Kansas City Fire Department, Breit reported. Cook Composites and Polymers Co. is in the 900 block of East 16th Avenue. The factory manufactures coating resins that are baked onto automobiles, Breit said. No injures were reported. 

Dust Bin Fire Extinguished 
TIMES RECORD STAFF
Fort Smith firefighters spent about five hours battling a blaze in a dust collection bin at a local factory Wednesday. No injuries were reported in the fire at Norton Proppants, 5300 Gerber Road. Equipment damage was estimated at about $150,000. Firefighters responded to the factory about 1 a.m. and discovered the large dust collecting bin in flames, according to a Fire Department report. Firefighters stayed on the scene until 6 a.m. Wednesday. The cause of the fire was undetermined. A maintenance superintendent for the company said the collecting unit probably overheated, a Fire Department report stated. Norton Proppants produces ceramic pellets for use in oil wells and natural gas wells. The company employs about 150 people at its Fort Smith location.

9 construction workers choke in tunnel
By: Rajendra Aklekar April 30, 2003 
On April 24, nine construction labourers working 70 feet under the ground in a tunnel at Appa Pada in Malad were suffocated following a short circuit in the compressor of a drilling machine which led to a minor explosion and fire. The injured workers were shifted to Suchak Hospital and six of them were kept in the ICU under medical observation for 24 hours. The condition of all nine are now reported to be “out of danger”. The police say the BMC had given the contract for laying water supply pipelines by building a tunnel measuring 11.9 km from Bhandup to Charkop to a Vikhroli-based Hindustan Construction Company. Work for the project, including tunnel boring, was on from the shafts at Liberty Garden in Santosh Nagar to Appa Pada. The labourers had dug a 10-feet-wide and 1,250 metre-long tunnel for the purpose. Twenty people were working in the tunnel at the time of the fire, but only nine labourers who were working close to the compressor were injured. The police state, while the work was in progress, a short circuit occurred at 7.15 am in the compressor, leading to a minor explosion. The fire from the explosion started spewing out poisonous fumes of vinyl, which were inhaled by the workers, which caused nausea, giddiness and breathlessness. The names of the six injured workers who were admitted to the ICU are Dinesh Parkar (30), Ramkumar Thakkar (40), Sunil Shinde (32), Kalu Jana (29), Govind Dhumal (36) and Kale (45). The other three whose condition was reported to be stable are Shyam Sundar (27) Satyawadi Pradhan (56) and Mohan (26). 

UPDATE OSHA fines oil company for breaking safety laws
By Julie Breaux Odessa American
United Energy Corp. violated several workplace-safety laws during a demonstration that went awry last year, killing one man and injuring nine others, an OSHA report says. “They were serious violations, meaning they had the potential to cause serious bodily injury or death, which they did,” said Jack Tucker, acting director of OSHA’s Lubbock office, which conducted the investigation. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration found that United committed five violations of worker-safety laws during its Oct. 29 demonstration of a self-described revolutionary well-service treatment at a remote well site in Crane County. Because United used a highly concentrated form of hydrogen peroxide in its paraffin-removal treatment demonstration, United was also cited for violating various regulations regarding hazardous materials information, training and communication, Tucker said. “Nobody out there knew how hazardous this stuff was,” Tucker said. “Sam Miller might have known, but he sure didn’t share it with anybody involved.” United Energy director Samuel Miller Jr. — the inventor of the treatment — was killed during the demonstration, which was attended by as many as 50 people with some connection to the oil industry. OSHA fined United $3,000, Tucker said. United Energy attorney Richard Crowther declined to comment on OSHA’s investigation, which was closed Tuesday. The deadly accident occurred at the Crump No. 2 oil well about nine miles west of Texas Highway 349. Crownquest Operations of Midland was the well’s operator. Last fall, crude oil production from the Crump No. 2 had been dwindling because of a buildup of paraffin, a common occurrence in the industry. On the day of the accident, contract laborers for Crownquest, a crew from United subsidiary Applied Force and employees of Champion Technologies Inc. and other onlookers gathered for a demonstration of United’s S2 System. The purpose of the demonstration was to remove paraffin buildup in the well using hydrogen peroxide as opposed to traditional hot-oil or hot-water treatments. At the time, United hailed the S2 as a “revolutionary” blockage removal system but offered few details about the patent-pending process other than it employed “space-age technology to maintain the flow of oil and gas throughout all phases” of crude-oil production, transportation, refining and storage. Al Eierdam of Phoenix, a friend of Miller’s, said Miller worked for more than a decade refining the S2 System while racing rocket-powered dragsters. Eierdam said the S2 “motor,” about the size of a bushel basket, had no moving parts. Instead, hydrogen peroxide was forced through catalyst packs consisting of hundreds of tightly packed, silver-plated mesh screens. “When the hydrogen peroxide is pushed through it by air, it creates a chemical reaction,” Eierdam said in an interview following last year’s accident. The chemical reaction creates heat and 2,500 to 10,000 pounds of thrust, he said, adding, “They’re so darn safe.” Tucker disagreed, citing data gathered during OSHA’s investigation that revealed hydrogen peroxide molecules expand up to 2,500 times their original size during a reaction with water. United said it successfully tested the technology on 50 wells. Tucker said those tests ended differently than the Crane County demonstration because well bores safely channeled the pressure buildup from the chemical reactions below ground. That didn’t happen in Crane, according to Tucker. “Something got blocked, the line,” Tucker said. “Something got blocked when the pressure built up, so the line just blew.” When the 2 5/8-inch flow line ruptured, those positioned closest to it were burned in a flash fire, seared with exhaust heat and hit with a wall of flying rocks, gravel and shrapnel, Tucker said. Miller was pronounced dead at Crane County Hospital. Three men were critically injured; five were treated for burns to the face, arms; and several people at the scene of the accident refused treatment. OSHA didn’t cite United with more serious safety violations because there are no “black and white” federal safety standards that applied in this case, Tucker said. In fact, the federal government has no minimum worker safety and health standards that apply solely to the oil and gas industry, he said, making it difficult to make a case against United Energy. “No standard. No citation,” Tucker said. “So, what are you going to do? In this case, you have something so new, there was nothing written on it. This was cutting-edge,” Tucker said. “That’s why so many people were there, to be on it: ‘If this works, we want to get in on it.’” United was the only company involved in the accident to be cited by OSHA. Crownquest Chief Executive Officer Tim Dunn said the results of the OSHA probe “speak for themselves.” Dunn declined to comment further. Officials at Champion’s Midland office referred all calls regarding the investigation to its Houston headquarters, where no one was available for comment after hours. Champion, Crownquest, United and its subsidiary Applied Force are facing civil lawsuits filed late last year in 109th District Court by two men critically injured in the accident. The suits claim negligence and seek unspecified damages. 

Blaze destroys city warehouse 
04/30/03 CAROL ROBINSON News staff writer
A two-alarm fire ripped through a city warehouse Tuesday, leveling the decades-old pine building and obliterating $30,000 of city supplies. More than 50 firefighters fought the blaze, which burned for about 40 minutes and included at least one small explosion from a propane tank kept inside the building. No one was injured. At the adjacent city jail, just feet away from the flames, several hundred inmates were placed in lockdown in their cells for the duration of the fire. Police officials said the inmates were not in danger and did not need to be evacuated. The fire erupted just after noon in the storage building at 431 Sixth Ave. South, a complex that includes the warehouse, jail, police academy, forensics lab and city garage. Jail trusty Emanuel Agee, 50, was outside the warehouse on his lunch break when he spotted smoke coming from the roof. “I just happened to look and I saw it,” Agee said. He went to warn the workers still inside. “I just told them to get out.” The warehouse consisted of a large concrete building and the smaller wood-framed building that caught fire, which was added on about 30 years ago. Birmingham Fire and Rescue Capt. William Fields said a firewall between the two kept the blaze from spreading. The warehouse contained a number of items kept in bulk storage such as street signs, city worker uniforms, cleaning supplies, paper products and paint. Aside from the two propane tanks used to operate the warehouse forklift, all other flammable materials are kept in a fireproof cabinet, authorities said. Fields said it was unclear where the fire started. The cause is under investigation. “Once it got ignited,” he said, “it didn’t take long.” 

Fire Contained At Baltimore Chemical Plant
11:57 a.m. EDT April 30, 2003
BALTIMORE — A hazardous materials team from the Baltimore City Fire Department is at the scene of a fire at a chemical manufacturing plant. The one-alarm fire was reported about 10 a.m. at FMC Corporation in the 1700 block of East Patapsco Street. Fire Department spokesman Kevin Cartwright said it still has not been extinguished. He said heating oil is burning inside some type of metal container, but he did not know the size of the container. There are no reports of injuries and there’s no evidence of any hazard to the environment. 

Fire damages Preston business
By: Michele Scott, Herald Staff Writer April 30, 2003 
PRESTON – A quick moving fire at T. M. Woodworks in Preston on Tuesday destroyed much of the company’s manufacturing plant, located in Preston’s Industrial Park. It took more then four hours and three fire departments to control the blaze, which began Tuesday morning in the attic of the company that makes custom furniture. Up to 20 employees were working at the plant at the time the fire broke out, but all escaped uninjured. Business owner Tom McNeil and his wife, Beth, returned from Chicago about 1 p.m. after being notified about the fire. While many items were rescued from inside the plant, the building sustained severe damage and the roof of the plant will have to be replaced after most of it collapsed. Preston Fire Chief Bill Yaddof said the cause of the fire has yet to be determined, although he said the fire began around the dust collector area in the attic. Damage estimates will be determined later today or Thursday morning. “I would guess the damages could be well over $250,000 or $300,000,” Yaddof said. “It all depends on if they can salvage the walls or not.” The owners believe they will be able to open their doors again. “We will get it back,” Beth McNeil said. “But it will take some time.” The business was insured. Mutual aid also was called in to fight the blaze. The Maquoketa Fire Department came with their new aerial truck that allows for the spraying of water from above the fire rather than placing firefighters in the dangerous position of having to get on the roof. Miles Fire Department also was on the scene. “When I got down there and saw what we were contending with, I knew we needed the aerial truck,” Yaddof said. “I give both Maquoketa and Miles credit for getting here so fast.” Preston and Miles train together, which helps things to run smoother during an emergency, he said. Preston Ready-Mix and Quarry helped haul water in their cement trucks. Preston had two pumpers and two tankers, Miles brought one pumper and two tankers, and Maquoketa brought one tanker and the aerial truck. Firefighters remained on the scene until about 8:30 p.m. 

Alert over fire fumes 
Apr 29 2003
By Alison Dayani, Evening Mail
Residents were ordered to stay in their homes today when poisonous smoke drifted across the Black Country after a blaze at a plastics factory. Around 140 firefighters tackled the ferocious fire at PTW Mouldings in Spartan Industrial Estate, Brickhouse Lane, Great Bridge, which raged through the night. Flames tore through the warehouse, which produces plastic milk and beer crates and traffic light mouldings, near the Black Country Route, from 10.15pm yesterday. The building was completely destroyed in the fire which caused hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of damage. Firefighters immediately became concerned that passersby and families living across Harvills Hawthorn, Black Lake and Golds Green might inhale the toxic thick black fumes and suffer breathing problems. Station Commander Terry Inglefield, from Wolverhampton fire station, urged locals to stay indoors with their windows and doors locked if they did not need to go out. He said: “The fumes are harmful and slightly acidic and if someone had breathes in the thick black smoke for 20 minutes it would cause a chest infection. “There are no obvious signs that the blaze is arson.”

Shuts Controversial N.Y. Nuke Plant 
By JIM FITZGERALD Associated Press Writer 
BUCHANAN, N.Y. (AP)–A fire early Tuesday damaged equipment in a non-nuclear section of the Indian Point 3 power plant and forced the shutdown of the reactor, a spokesman said. The cause was unknown but there were no signs of sabotage or terrorist acts, and no radioactive material was released, said Jim Steets of Entergy Corp., the plant’s owner. The other plant on the site, Indian Point 2, was already out of service, having shut down automatically because of an unrelated electrical outage Monday evening. The twin shutdowns completely remove Indian Point, the region’s top producer of electrical energy, from the power grid. Since the terror attacks of 2001, many people living nearby have focused their fears on the Indian Point complex, 35 miles north of midtown Manhattan, as a possible target. Critics who want the two plants shut down say the densely populated area could not be protected if radiation were released in a major accident or attack. The fire was classified as an “unusual event,” the lowest of four levels of alert on a scale used by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Indian Point 3 was shut down within minutes after the fire was discovered in the insulation around piping for the main steam-powered turbine around 3 a.m. The fire was extinguished within the hour and no one was injured. Damage was visible on part of the turbine as well as the insulation, Steets said. He did not know how long it would take for the plant to resume operations. “We’re not going to bring it back until we understand the cause of the fire and check out all the equipment,” he said. Indian Point 2 shut down “as it’s designed to do” when the electrical outage occurred outside the plant at about 5 p.m. Monday, Steets said. Con Edison said the power failure, which lasted several minutes and affected 51,000 customers, happened when feeder cables malfunctioned. 

UPDATE Damage From Winthrop Elevator Fire Estimated At $1 Million 
Apr 29, 2003 9:14 am US/Central
The Sunday fire at the United Farmers Co-op grain elevator here caused between $750,000 and $1 million in damage, the general manager of the co-op said Monday. Jeff Nielsen, co-op general manager, said fire was a major loss for Winthrop, but added that the co-op has had plans for a newer, more modern elevator east of town. It is expected to be complete in September. The old elevator was the site of an early Sunday morning fire that drew firefighters from every department in Sibley County and a few from Brown and McLeod counties. About 30,000 bushels of grain burned. Deputy State Fire Marshall Investigator Casey Stotts said it wasn’t clear if the fire was an accident or arson. Stotts said the fire started in a smaller elevator and spread to other buildings. He said grain dust might have had a role in starting the explosion that destroyed the building early Sunday morning. “Usually, there’s one or two (grain elevator fires per summer),” he said. Crews hired by the co-operative’s insurance company arrived Monday afternoon to help demolish the remains of the structure and to salvage as much as they could of the of corn and soybeans that were left. Nielsen said only one person manages the Winthrop site. No one was on duty when the fire was discovered and no injuries were reported. The co-op fire followed a major fire at the Unidoor plant in neighboring Gaylord a week earlier. Gaylord is seven miles west of Winthrop. Investigators of that fire suspect arson. On Monday, officials provided no updates into their search for the arsonist. 

Brownout at Honeywell Aircraft Landing Systems
Posted: 04/28/2003 02:18 pm
A small fire at Honeywell Aircraft Landing Systems in South Bend has closed the plant until further notice. Firefighting crews were called to the scene and black smoke could be seen coming from the building. According Honeywell spokesperson Rhonda Brown-Nolan the building was evacuated and no one was injured. A plant spokesperson says water stopped flowing to a cooling operation inside the plant causing the temperature to rise. Until it is fixed, the plant is closed until further notice. Workers are asked to call the site update line for plant status at 7 AM Tuesday, April 29. ESA and GSE are open. 

Venezuela Says Petrochemical Plant Closed Two Weeks (Update1) 
By Peter Wilson 
Caracas, April 28 (Bloomberg) — Super Octanos SA, one of Venezuela’s largest petrochemical companies, will stop production for about two weeks after an explosion and fire Friday killed one worker and injured three others. The plant suffered minor damage, mostly to instrument panels, a Petroleos de Venezuela SA spokesman said. An investigation into losses from the explosion continues, he said. Super Octanos produces methyl tertiary butyl ether, a gasoline additive used to boost octane and add oxygen to make fuel burn cleaner. The company is a joint venture among Venezuela’s state petrochemical company Pequiven SA, Italy’s Ecofuel and Venezuela’s Mercantil Servicios Financieros. The shutdown is another setback for Super Octanos, which was shuttered for almost three months because of a national strike in December and January aimed at aimed at forcing President Hugo Chavez from office. The company never disclosed losses from the strike, which ended Feb. 1 for all but oil workers. Super Octanos exports most of it output to the U.S. The plant, in the eastern state of Anzoategui, has the capacity to produce 600,000 metric tons a year. Methyl tertiary butyl ether fell 2.75 cents, or 2.9 percent, to 89.25 on the U.S. Gulf coast as of 1:20 p.m. 

Clinton plant up and running
By: Scott T. Holland, Herald Staff Writer April 28, 2003 
CLINTON – While some questions have been answered, others linger as a result of Friday night’s accident at the National By-Products plant in Clinton. District manager Ewing Miller contradicted reports of a boiler explosion at the 1423 Beaver Channel Parkway location, stating the incident was a chemical explosion. It is unclear at this point what chemical was involved, but Miller did say both employees taken to Mercy Medical Center “appear to be fine.” Miller put initial damage estimates between $400,000 and $500,000 and could not discern how long reconstruction will take. As of this morning, the company was meeting with insurance agents and contracts while awaiting the arrival of a structural engineer. “We’re just fortunate no one was really injured,” said Miller, who noted the plant is back in production already. According to a report from the Clinton Fire Department, responding units were on the site for five hours Friday night. The chemical leak is of no danger to the general public. The Clinton Fire Department called the Davenport hazardous materials team to the scene, which was cleaned by Philip Services of Camanche. 

One Man Injured at Nucor Fire
Apr. 28 – A local man is recovering after he was injured in a fire at the Decatur steel plant. The blaze broke out at the Nucor Steel Plant Sunday afternoon. Emergency responders say a steel mixture exploded shooting flames into the air. The flames ignited a conveyer belt which caused the fire. Four Decatur fire units reponded. One person suffered smoke inhalation during fire. He was treated at the scene. 

Blast averted in fire at factory
By SAM RICHES 28apr03
A FIRE fuelled by chemicals has caused more than $30,000 damage to a fertiliser factory at Burton. The fire started in an open storage area of the Fertiliser Solutions factory, on Burton Rd, about 1.15am yesterday. Police declared areas within one kilometre radius of the factory as dangerous. There were fears of explosions. Due to the volatile chemicals stored on site – including two tonnes of ammonia nitrate – residents of up to 1000 homes were placed on evacuation alert. The State Emergency Service was also on stand-by. However, Metropolitan Fire Service and Country Fire Service officers extinguished the fire before the evacuation was required and police declared the area safe around 4am. Witnesses reported two people loitering at the scene before the fire started. The cause is being treated as suspicious. 

UPDATE Large Parking Garage Fire Ruled Accidental
April 14, 2003
DENVER — The fire that engulfed the new parking structure at the Cherry Creek Apartments complex last week, sending thick black clouds of smoke billowing into the air, has been ruled accidental, the Glendale Fire Department said. “It appears that building materials stored in the basement of the parking structure ignited as a result of an accident involving propane heaters that were being used to keep liquid products warm,” Fire Marshall Patrick Conroy said. The fire rapidly consumed the building materials and also caused two propane cylinders to explode. The structure, located in the 4700 block of Cherry Creek Drive South, was still under construction, and workers could be seen running from it when smoke first started pouring out. Some people were found on the upper levels and escorted to safety by firefighters. Several fire departments worked to contain the blaze. No injuries were reported. The estimated cost of the April 7 fire has not been released. The parking structure was attached to a luxury 28-story apartment high-rise, called the 4550 Cherry Creek Drive South Building. It was also under construction and was not occupied at the time of the fire.

Explosion caused anhydrous burns
By Kay Luna
CALAMUS, Iowa — Co-workers Bob Ryan and Nathan Nissen were standing on a platform, almost finished filling a 1,500-gallon tank with anhydrous ammonia, when it suddenly exploded, authorities said Wednesday. In what Clinton County sheriff’s Capt. Roger Heilig described as a freak accident, the pressurized toxic chemical burst through the welded seams of the tank bottom, spraying the substance onto the men’s skin and into a white cloud of vapor above River Valley Cooperative east of Calamus. Heilig said he understands Ryan, 68, of DeWitt and Nissen, 23, of Welton, have been stabilized at University Hospitals in Iowa City, after suffering serious freeze burns on their skin — and likely in their lungs — from coming into contact with the chemical about noon Tuesday. Hospital officials said no information about their medical conditions was available for release Wednesday. “It was just kind of a freak deal,” Heilig said. “Hopefully, it’ll turn out all right.” Heilig said firefighters were able to help right away, thanks to a woman driving past the site who noticed the large white cloud hanging in the air. She knew something was wrong, he said. Anhydrous ammonia is a compound formed by the combination of nitrogen and hydrogen gases. Its boiling point is minus-28 degrees Fahrenheit. Heilig said the substance tends to hover near the ground before vaporizing in the air, so the men were somewhat protected where they were standing on a platform near the tank, but the explosion still sent the substance onto their skin. They also probably breathed it in, he said. Heilig said the tank’s pressure release valve should have bled off the pressure. River Valley Cooperative reported the spill to the Iowa Department of Natural Resource’s environmental protection branch, as required by law, Heilig said. He did not know if other agencies would be called to investigate the workplace accident. Ryan worked part time for the company during the spring and fall for about three or four years. Nissen began working for the company last fall.

UPDATE N.Y.C., Co. Faulted in Building Blast
AMY WESTFELDT Associated Press
NEW YORK – A federal investigation found that a sign company and New York City are both at fault for an explosion inside a Manhattan building last year that injured dozens of people, some critically. At the same time, city fire codes aren’t as strict as they could be to prevent such accidents, according to the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, an independent federal agency that investigated the accident. Workers at the company, Kaltech Industries Group, mixed a container of nitric acid with a 55-gallon drum containing various chemicals, including lacquer thinner, lead investigator Steve Selk said. The drum exploded once the chemicals were mixed, spewing glass and debris into the street and collapsing a stairwell of the 11-story building. The explosion knocked over a container of alcohol that started a fire in the basement, Selk said. Forty-two people were injured, at least 12 critically, authorities said at the time. Selk said 31 people were hospitalized. Kaltech didn’t follow federal regulations requiring it to maintain lists of chemicals in the workplace and train its employees to handle hazardous chemicals, Selk said. Selk also said city fire codes could be strengthened to mirror federal regulations. He said the codes don’t require companies to label their chemical containers. A fire department spokesman declined comment Wednesday. Calls to Kaltech weren’t returned.

Five killed in factory blast
From correspondents in Beijing 18apr03
AN explosion at a textile plant has killed five workers and injured four others in eastern China, a local police official has said. A machine used to print designs on cloth blew up, spraying window glass across the plant and starting a fire that collapsed the ceiling, said an officer in the town of Qianqing. Investigators were trying to determine what caused the machine to explode, said the policeman, who gave just his surname, Ding. 

Sinclair Refinery fire doused
By TARA WESTREICHER Star-Tribune staff writer
No one was hurt or killed as a result of a fire that occurred just before noon Wednesday at the Sinclair Casper refinery in Evansville, according to Natrona County Emergency Manager Stewart Anderson. The fire, at first, appeared to be more serious than it was, as emergency workers recounted seeing flames reaching 20 to 30 feet above the stack where a treater unit was located. “Quite a bit of black smoke could be seen and it was going towards the east, or northeast, I guess,” Anderson said. The refinery is located just off the Old Glenrock Highway at 5700 E. U.S. Hwy 20-26. A gamut of emergency and rescue crews reached the refinery at 11:25 a.m., about five minutes after the call was received. Anderson said outside units were on hand in case the fire got out of control. But, as it turned out, the refinery’s own fire crew was able to extinguish the flames without their help, he said. “(The refinery crew) calls it in, but they are the main force that fights it first,” Anderson said of the usual procedure in refinery fires. Outside entities remain on standby, unless the refinery requests their help. “The other procedure is to keep the highways open and clear, in case it does become larger and we need to get more units here, we don’t need the roads clogged up,” he explained. The outside crews also conduct evacuations and find temporary shelters for nearby residents, should the fumes become overwhelming, Anderson added. No evacuations were necessary this time, he said. Sally Sorensen, Sinclair’s office and accounting manager, said Wednesday afternoon that refinery officials will investigate the cause of the fire and that they should probably have more information around the first part of next week. In addition to the refinery crew, units from the Wyoming Medical Center, Casper and Evansville Fire Departments, Natrona County Fire Protection District and Evansville police and county sheriff’s officials responded, said Anderson. 

Winds fan major NY tire fire
(New York City) April 18, 2003 – A huge fire in New York has caused some major problems. A blaze broke out at a tire recycling plant around 9:00pm Thursday night. High winds fanned the flames, spreading the fire to at least two other buildings and sparking a brush fire. Firefighters weren’t able to battle the fire initially, because they didn’t have enough water. There are no immediate reports of injuries. 

Fire still burning in Scotia Industrial Park
Updated: 4/18/2003 9:26 AM By: Capital News 9 web staff
Firefighters are now tearing down a tire recycling plant at the Scotia-Glenville Industrial Park. A fire broke out at the plant around 9 p.m. last night and burned all throughout the night, and this morning. Just after 9 a.m. on Friday, firefighters brought in equipment to start tearing down the building. They are hoping to alleviate some of the heat that is trapped inside the building. More than a dozen fire departments were on hand when the fire broke out last night, and they’ve been there throughout the night. The fire did spread to neighboring buildings, but firefighters were able to contain the blaze with minimal damage. At this time there are reports of three minor injuries. Capital News 9’s Bridget Blythe is on the scene with details.

No Injuries Reported
April 18, 2003 Story by The LouisvilleChannel.com 
LOUISVILLE — An explosion rocked a plant near downtown Louisville late Thursday. The blast happened at the Sypris Technologies plant at the corner of 28th Street and Broadway, NewsChannel 32 reported. According to the Metro Fire Department, a chemist mixed methanol and nitric acid together Thursday afternoon in an effort to etch metal. After the chemicals were mixed, something went wrong with a ventilation system, according to fire officials. “We’re guessing the vent either shut down by itself or became inoperable and caused a small explosion,” Metro Fire Maj. Vicki Bell said. None of the people in the building at the time of the explosion were injured. The explosion was largely confined to one room, but the plant was evacuated as a precaution, NewsChannel 32 reported. Workers returned to the building after it was ventilated. Sypris Technologies specializes in forging truck axles, according to NewsChannel 32. Stay tuned to NewsChannel 32 and TheLouisvilleChannel.com for news updates throughout the day. 

Worker burned in job-site accident
Jodie Sinnema The Edmonton Journal Friday, April 25, 2003
EDMONTON – A 29-year-old man suffered second-degree burns to 80 to 90 per cent of his body after an explosion shook a new residential development in southwest Edmonton Thursday afternoon. The man worked for a flooring company and was skinning linoleum in a new house south of Ellerslie Road near 119th Street. He was using a flammable solvent to take out linoleum, which was the wrong colour and needed to be replaced. Fire investigators said the vapours came in contact with the furnace duct in the basement and started the fire in a flash explosion. Damage is estimated at $150,000. One of the man’s employers was nearby when the blast occurred and called the man on his cell. “I beeped him as a joke to say ‘Did you blow up the house?’ But he didn’t answer,” she said, visibly upset as she stood outside the house, slated to be finished by month’s end. “I guess the joke was on me. … We hope he’s OK.” Emergency crews got the call at around 4:15 p.m. and could see smoke rising in the sky from about one kilometre away, fire captain Lorne Sherstobitoff said. “It flashed and the main floor and part of the upstairs was involved with fire,” Sherstobitoff said. “All of the vents were blown out or twisted and by the time we got here, the man was lying in front of the double doors of the garage.” The man was the only person in the house. “It’s a very serious fire because of the explosion and if anyone else was in there, they would have been hurt very badly as well.” Sherstobitoff said all the house windows were closed, but while that may have contained the fire, it may also have slowed the ventilation of the fumes. Supt. Rod Homeniuk of EMS operations said the man is in critical condition and is being treated at the burn unit at the University of Alberta Hospital. “It’s potentially life-threatening,” Homeniuk said. Cara Yager, who lives across the street, said she knew it was serious when she saw the 29-year-old on fire in the garage. “He was burning head to foot,” said Yager, who immediately called for help. She said his hair was burned off, as were most of his clothes. All that was left were his socks, his shin pads and his leather work belt. Neighbour Brad Melnyk came running with a jug of water to pour on the burning man. When flames continued to burn the garage, Melnyk used his garden hose to douse the fire. “It was a little unsettling,” Melnyk said. He had just taken possession of his house on Wednesday and was getting ready to move in on the weekend. “Hell of a welcome to the neighbourhood.” Yager said the man was conscious the entire time and said his name was Spencer. To keep him calm, she asked him details about his past and reassured him. “It’s a scary thing to have happen,” Yager said. “It’s horrible. He’s a young guy, so hopefully, he’ll heal quickly.” 

Update on Incident at Reichhold’s Pons Facility
Business Editors
PONS, France–(BUSINESS WIRE)–April 25, 2003–This is an update on the fire that occurred at Reichhold’s Pons factory in France yesterday, April 24, 2003 at approximately 12:40 pm Central European Time. Preliminary information indicates that the fire started in the northwest corner of the manufacturing building due to the accidental spill of a flammable liquid which ignited. The two employees that received minor injuries during the fire were treated and released the same day. Reichhold’s site management evacuated employees and local industry neighbors, and instructed residents of the community to stay inside, while fire fighters worked to protect the safety and welfare of employees and contain the situation. Reichhold extends its thanks and appreciation to the local Fire Brigades for their rapid response and professional actions to protect Reichhold employees at the plant, the Company facilities and ensuring the safety of the local community. Reichhold’s Pons facility manufactures gel coats and bonding pastes for the composites industry. 

UPDATE First Chemical fine may be cut; OSHA proposes reduction in $42,000 fine after explosion probe
The Associated Press
Federal regulators have proposed reducing a $42,000 fine announced in April for First Chemical Corp. after an investigation into last fall’s explosion at a Pascagoula chemical plant. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, state and company officials met Wednesday in Jackson, said Clyde Payne, OSHA’s Jackson office director. “I don’t see any big issues between the company and OSHA, and we’ve given them a draft settlement to consider,” Payne said. Payne would not say what new penalty was proposed. He would only describe it as a “substantial reduction.” Officials from First Chemical’s parent company, DuPont, will look at the proposal and there could be additional discussions before the order becomes final Monday, Payne said. The meeting was to let company officials comment on the initial fine proposal, and to point out steps they’ve taken to ensure safety. Payne said it’s common for meetings to result in changes. The Pascagoula plant makes aniline, used in making polyurethane foams, automobile parts and plastics. It was rocked by an explosion and fire Oct. 13. An isomer separation unit was the source of the blast. The explosion hurled fragments of a six-ton chemical distillation tower 1,100 feet and caused a fire in a chemical storage tank. Three workers suffered minor injuries. The plant was owned by ChemFirst of Jackson at the time of the explosion. In November, ChemFirst was purchased by DuPont. ChemFirst operated two semiconductor fabrication businesses, and DuPont sought the $400 million purchase in a bid to strengthen its position as a supplier of specialty products for the electronics industry. The Wilmington, Del.-based DuPont is the No. 1 chemical maker after Dow Chemical, with 2002 sales of $24 billion. It also operates a plant in DeLisle. 

Willingboro plant fire causes little damage
Friday, April 25, 2003 Courier-Post Staff WILLINGBORO 
A suspected electrical fire in a maintenance storage area caused minimal damage at Hi-Temp Speciality Metals. No injuries were reported in the blaze, which was reported about 6:50 p.m. Wednesday, said Fire Chief Anthony Burnett. The Beverly-Rancocas Road plant also was the scene of a January 2002 explosion and fire that killed one person and injured about two dozen others. Burnett said Wednesday’s fire was confined to a 100-square-foot part of the building, and a sprinkler system put out most of the flames before firefighters arrived. The fire did not affect operations at the plant, which reopened for business Thursday morning. The cause of the blaze was under investigation, but it wasn’t considered suspicious, the chief said. 

Fire strikes Reichhold plant in France
Chris Baysden 
Reichhold said that there was a fire at its Pons, France manufacturing facility on Thursday. A fire brigade from the city of Pons responded to the incident and extinguished the fire about two hours after it started. Initial information indicated only two minor injuries to on-site personnel, the company said in a statement. Durham-based Reichhold employs about 32 people at the facility, says Phil Bridges, a spokesman for the company’s composites’ division. The cause of the fire is unknown, he says. Reichhold said it is still assessing the extent of the damage. An initial assessment indicated that the Pons warehouse and bulk storage facility are intact, the company said in the statement. Reichhold’s Pons facility manufactures gel coats and bonding pastes for the composites industry. To ensure uninterrupted supply to customers, Reichhold said it is shifting production scheduled for the Pons facility to other Reichhold plants in Europe. In November 2002, the company’s Spolchemie plant in Usti nad Labem in the Czech Republic also suffered extensive damage from a fire. The Spolchemie resin plant was used for manufacturing epoxy resins, unsaturated polyesters, coating resins and specialty resins. Bridges said he does not think the fires are related because the facilities are two different types of plants. Founded in 1927, Reichhold is a subsidiary of Dainippon Ink & Chemicals, which produces printing inks and polyester resins. 

Fire at former toffees factory
Apr 24, 2003, 15:30
More than 40 firefighters tackled a blaze at a former toffee factory near Halesowen. The Bluebird Confectionery factory in Hunnington is now owned by a garden company. Wooden pallets and plastic fishponds were on fire in the grounds yesterday, but firefighters were able to prevent the blaze spreading to the former factory. The cause of the blaze, which broke out at 8pm, is under investigation but it is believed to have been started by a spark from an incinerator. Crews remained at the scene all night. Sub officer Russell Broadbent of Kidderminster fire station, said: “There were around 100 plastic fishponds stacked up on top of each other. “The fire was burning inside them which made it very difficult to get to.” A spokesman for the Solus Garden and Leisure Group said: “It was a small fire in our yard area which destroyed a bit of stock. It looked worse than it was. “There were a few ponds and some compost kept in that area but it was largely pallets which were damaged.” 

Transformer Blast Forces Partial Evacuation Of School; Cuts Power To Thousands In Hollywood
UPDATED: 12:49 p.m. PDT April 23, 2003
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — A transformer explosion cut power to nearly 17,000 utility customers in Hollywood on Wednesday, forcing partial evacuation of an elementary school. No one was injured in the blast shortly before 8:30 a.m. at a city Department of Water and Power distribution substation at Vine and Romaine streets. The cause was under investigation, Fire Department spokesman Jim Wells said. The nearby school was partially evacuated while smoke wafted out of the substation, Wells said. Students were initially sent to the south end of the school’s campus, according to NBC4. DWP spokeswoman Darlene Battle could not estimate how long the power outage would last or how much damage was caused by the blast. The substation has a minimal staff, she said. The Vine Street Children’s Center was also evacuated. Seventy-four children — ages 3, 4 and 5 — and 10 adults were evacuated. Parents can come to Vine Elementary school to pick up students, although school is still the in session, the principal said. No one was injured, authorities said. One woman said she saw “dark, thick, black smoke … Everybody was choking.” 

UPDATE Static suspected in glue plant fire 
Wednesday, April 23, 2003 By RICHARD COWEN STAFF WRITER 
TOTOWA – Investigators suspect that a buildup of static electricity sparked the blaze that heavily damaged a glue factory on Maltese Drive on Monday night. Totowa Fire Chief Jimmy Booth said static electricity may have built up in a hose connecting a vat of chemicals to another container at Ashland Chemical. The fire forced the evacuation of neighbors within a half-mile of the plant, which is in an industrial park. Firefighters from seven towns battled the blaze for nearly four hours, until around 2 a.m. Tuesday. Firefighters wore a breathing apparatus to avoid inhaling the fumes, Booth said. “It was a very dangerous situation,” Booth said. One volunteer firefighter from West Paterson suffered minor burns on his neck from flaming debris, but was not hospitalized. Ashland Chemical produces adhesives for stamps and Scotch tape. The plant suffered “extensive damage,” Booth said. Firefighters from Little Falls, Wayne, Paterson, Prospect Park, Totowa, Hawthorne, and West Paterson responded to the fire. 

Crews battle chemical plant fire 
Tuesday, April 22, 2003 
TOTOWA – Firefighters from seven towns battled a fire in a chemical plant along Maltese Drive on Monday night, police said. The fire at Ashland Chemical was at reported at 8:27 p.m., police Sgt. Joseph Macaluso said. Information on any damage in the plant was not available. Moments after the first report of fire, an employee at the plant also called to report the blaze, the sergeant said. The plant is in an industrial park that includes several trucking companies. A Passaic County hazardous materials team joined firefighters from Little Falls, Wayne, Paterson, Prospect Park, Totowa, and West Paterson at the blaze. Firefighters also called for a foam truck from the Hawthorne Fire Department. Police said ambulances from three towns were standing by, but there were no reports of injuries. Ashland is a supplier of specialty chemicals to the automotive, boat, and plastic industries. 

Fire guts factory 
Samut Prakan _ A fire razed a plastic pellet factory on Old Sukhumvit road in Muang district early yesterday, with damage estimated at 10 million baht. The blaze at the Saengphet factory was reported about 3.30am. The entire steel structure of the single-storey factory caved in, destroying all six pellet-making machines. No one was hurt. Police said the factory employed about 20 people, mostly foreigners. They were looking for the factory owner and investigating the cause.

Refinery workers help battle fire
By Kristopher Hanson Staff writer 
Friday, April 18, 2003 – LONG BEACH A fire ignited by a damaged valve caused heavy damage to a petroleum refinery in North Long Beach, but no one was hurt. The fire at Edgington Oil Company, a refinery at 2400 E. Artesia Blvd., began just before midnight Thursday and took fire fighters from Long Beach and Paramount about 25 minutes to extinguish, Long Beach Firefighter Wayne Chaney said. Firefighters had to crawl through “a tunnel of pipes and valves in order to get to where the fire’ originated, Chaney said. A damage estimate was unavailable. Officials credit refinery employees with preventing the fire from spreading further than it did in the minutes before firefighters arrived on scene. “It could have been really bad if (employees) hadn’t started fighting the fire right away’ Chaney said. “They prevented it from spreading to a storage tank about 30 feet away.’ Officials believe a faulty valve caused the fire. 

Fire destroys manufacturing plant in Crowley
The Associated Press
A five-alarm fire destroyed a bag manufacturing plant here where about 140 people work. The fire began Sunday night and was contained by Monday morning, but only after several explosions tore through the facility, prompting officials to evacuate homes and businesses within a mile radius, fearing the fire might spread to a neighboring chemical plant. Edward Leger, who managers the plant, said the company is aggressively looking for a new location to restart operations as soon as possible. “We’re not shutting down and we haven’t decided about layoffs yet,” Leger said. “This is a small town. The owners (brothers David and Peter John) know they’re one of the largest employers around and they don’t take that lightly.” The plant makes sandbags and bags for the rice industry. Last fall, La Pac received a $236,000 U.S. Department of Defense contract to provide 1 million sandbags for military operations in the Persian Gulf. The order was increased to slightly more than 8 million bags as the war in Iraq began, Leger said. “We’re planning on fulfilling that commitment,” Leger said. “We have good relationships with our competitors and they’re going to do some sewing, printing and weaving for us in the short term.” The fire began as heavy lightning swept through the area Sunday night, and Leger said that while firefighters have yet to determine an official cause, company officials suspect that lightning struck a stack of burlap in the warehouse area of the property, where the fire began. The flames spread from there, causing explosions when they reached a propane tank, ink tanks containing alcohol, a forklift and another gas tank, Leger said. Firefighters from Rayne, Esterwood, Mermentau and Morse converged on the scene to assist Crowley firefighters. No injuries were reported. 

Blaze ravages alfalfa facility; No one is injured as nine departments send help to control the massive fire.
By Ramon Coronado — Bee Staff Writer Monday, April 21, 2003
A spectacular fire early Sunday morning lighted up the south Sacramento County sky, caused $3.5 million in damage and kept a small army of firefighters busy for hours in an alfalfa field near Courtland. “It is too early to tell what the cause is because it is still burning,” Courtland Fire Department Assistant Chief Bob Visentin said Sunday morning. The fire was reported shortly after midnight, and a mutual aid request was issued shortly afterward. About 50 firefighters from nine fire departments were called to battle the blaze three miles southeast of Courtland off Russell Road. No injuries were reported, but four storage buildings containing many rows of stacked, cut and bundled alfalfa were burned. Expensive bailing equipment also was destroyed in one of the buildings, Visentin said. The two-story buildings, which were enclosed, were 300 feet long by 100 feet wide. Only one building was believed to have had been wired with electricity. “There was no electricity in most of the buildings. The cause of the fire could be arson. We just don’t know,” Visentin said. As of Sunday, the plan was to let the pockets of intense heat burn themselves out. “It is nearly impossible to put a fire like this out,” Visentin said. The fire may smolder for several days, he said. The burned buildings are on property listed to International Ag Commodities on Alfalfa Plant Road. Visentin said the company estimated damage at $3.5 million. Company officials didn’t answer repeated calls from The Bee on Sunday. Company representatives at the site prevented a Bee photographer from going on the property. 

Fire Damages Gaylord Unidoor Plant
Much of the Unidoor company’s door-manufacturing operations was destroyed Sunday morning by fire. The fire which was concentrated in the main building’s warehouse and machine-room areas. Fire Chief Dennis Grack says it was discovered when a police officer spotted flames and smoke coming from the building. Firefighters from Glencoe, Arlington, Green Isle, Henderson, New Auburn and Winthrop joined those from Gaylord in fighting the fire. Grack says the smoke and flames were so thick that firefighters could not get inside the building to fight the fire. Grack says it was the biggest fire in Gaylord in his 30 years with the department. 

UPDATE Glenpool storage tank fire forces evacuation of area
4-9-03
GLENPOOL, Okla. (AP) — A fire at a fuel storage tank farm spread Tuesday morning to a second tank, prompting evacuations and sending a funnel of thick black smoke roiling into the sky. Officials evacuated homes and businesses within a 1 1/2-mile radius of the tank farm and closed down U.S. 75 in both directions, police said. Glenpool Schools also canceled classes. Former State Senator Lewis Long and his family live approximately three-quarters of a mile from the tank farm, on 126th Street, west of Highway 75. Long said that the Glenpool firefighters and Tulsa County deputies advised everyone on 126th Street to evacuate around 6:00 a.m. Tuesday morning. “I have several head of horses and really didn’t have anywhere to go with them, just had to leave them and hope for the best” said Long. “We just grabbed our granddaughter and great-grandson and left.” Long, his wife Pat and their granddaughter Kaylynn, along with Kaylynn’s 14-month old son, David, traveled to a friend’s home that is several miles from the explosion site. “We stayed away about five hours before they gave us the go ahead to come back home,” stated Long. “I understand that everyone living east of Highway 75 is still evacuated.” Long said that he could see the flames from the fire and they appeared to be shooting into the air, up to 150 to 200 feet. The main concern Long said was a gas tank filled with unleaded gasoline that is located close to the tank that originally exploded. That tank was becoming so hot, it was starting to “vent”. The fire began around 9 p.m. Monday with an explosion in a ConocoPhillips tank holding diesel at the farm south of Tulsa. Firefighters were still trying to douse the flames when the blaze spread around 6 a.m. Tuesday to a second smaller tank holding a light oil product called naptha, said ConocoPhillips spokesman Kenneth Ray. Ray called the evacuations a precaution and said the smoke was not believed to be hazardous. Facilities manager David Hladik said Monday night that all ConocoPhillips personnel were accounted for and no one was hurt. The exact cause is not known, although he said static electricity is suspected. The tank had taken delivery from a pipeline of 8,400 barrels of diesel fuel at the time of the explosion. The pipeline was shut down after the blast, Hladik said. Winds contributed to the spread of the fire Tuesday morning, said Tulsa Fire Capt. Hubert Rouse. “It’s just real hard to try and cool the tanks down and keep it contained,” he said. Rouse said residents who could smell the smoke should leave the area or take shelter, closing windows and shutting off air systems that could pull the smoke inside. About 10 people evacuated from their homes went to a shelter set up at First Baptist Church in Glenpool on Tuesday, said Brett Land, a student pastor. Another shelter at Faith Freewill Baptist Church had only one evacuee Tuesday morning. The first explosion shook the windows at Land’s home about 1 1/2 miles from the tank farm, he said. He could see the flames shooting from the tanks. “This morning, you could tll it was a lot larger,” he said. “The plume of smoke is double the size.” Firefighters from Glenpool, Jenks and Tulsa responded to the blaze, and the Sun refinery sent a foam truck. ConocoPhillips firefighters from the company’s plant in Ponca City also fought the blaze, Hladik said. A stiff wind drifted black smoke from the blaze across Glenpool. The fire raged for more than two hours, but began to die down by 11:30 p.m. It appeared under control before flaring up again Tuesday morning. Tim Felt, president of Tulsa-based Explorer Pipeline Co., said the company’s 1,400-mile, 28-inch main pipeline was shut down “as a precaution.” The line that was pumping fuel into the tank was a branch from the main pipeline, which is a key conduit from the Gulf Coast to the upper Midwest, he said. Ray said the fire was not expected to curtail the flow of ConocoPhillips products because the storage facility is not at the terminal itself. The tank farm is operated remotely. D.L. Hunter, who lives about a mile south of the tank farm, said he was so concerned that the wind might push the fire toward his home Monday night that he had his family packed and ready to go to Broken Arrow to stay with relatives. “Everything was glowing,” he said. “The entire sky was just lit up.”

Bayou Pipe fire causes big stir, little damage 
Todd Billiot April 10, 2003 
PORT OF IBERIA — A small fire Wednesday morning at Bayou Pipe Coatings in the Port of Iberia garnered a lot of attention after local television stations reported the fire during early morning programs. Iberia Parish firefighter Mike Vincent said residue coating that built up on the ceiling of the plant ignited from radiant heat from a boiler. The call for assistance came in at 6:17 a.m. and the fire was completely extinguished at 6:35 a.m., Vincent said. The fire was contained to the ceiling and caused minimal damage. Jimmy Shea, managing partner of Bayou Pipe Coating at 5200 Curtis Lane, said the fire lasted about eight minutes and was essentially put out by the time firefighters arrived. Shea said the coatings on the outside of pipes is for corrosion protection. The plant has been in operation for about 30 years, he said. Shea said temperatures of furnaces in the plant rise to 2,200 degrees. It is possible with the gusting winds Wednesday morning, that the heat ignited a scrap of paper or the coating residue on the ceiling. The fire was contained to a square-foot area. The plant was evacuated as a precaution, he said.

4 hurt in Ashdod power plant blast 
Four people were lightly injured when a water boiler at the Eshkol power plant in Ashdod exploded yesterday. The four suffered smoke inhalation and were evacuated to Kaplan Hospital in Rehovot for medical attention. Police and emergency crews rushed to the scene following the loud explosion. Police said there was no need for concern that toxic materials could have been released into the atmosphere as a result of the explosion. (Tsahar Rotem)

Imperial Products catches fire; no one hurt
By Don Fasnacht Staff writer
Richmond firefighters continued battling a stubborn fire inside a dust collector atop the Imperial Products plant at 451 Industries Road this morning. The factory was evacuated while firefighters poured tons of water into the top the collector. No one was injured. The water was pouring out the bottom of the rooftop collector and swirling down a drain in the middle of the plant’s parking lot. There were no visible flames, but there was smoke in the area. Firefighters were trying different strategies to attack the fire. “It’s in too confined a space,” Battalion Chief Tim Brown said. A 5-inch water line was run from a hydrant on the northeast corner of the Imperial property across the front of the building and down the south side of the plant. Firefighters contacted Indiana-American Water to boost water pressure in the area. The dust collector is on the roof at the rear of the factory. The alarm was received at about 6:30 a.m. today. Firefighters were still at the scene at 9:30 a.m. Three fire companies were fighting the fire. A relief company was sent shortly before 9 a.m., fire department officials said. Cause of the fire has not been determined, fire officials said. Imperial Products produces doors and employs about 140 people. Because the fire is confined inside the Imperial plant, it did not threaten any neighboring businesses at the industrial park.

Pipeline rupture kills Gillette woman
GILLETTE — One woman was killed and another injured when a natural gas pipeline ruptured in Campbell County. The accident Sunday killed Debra Lee Zeleny, 41, of Gillette. Marcia Iriberry, 23, of Wright, was listed in fair condition Tuesday at Campbell County Memorial Hospital. Investigators were unsure what happened. The women, who worked for Merit Energy, were using a tool to clear the pipeline of debris. A Wyoming Worker Safety official and a federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration official went to the scene Monday to investigate. “The goal of the investigation is to, No. 1, find out what happened,” said Johnnie Hall, a compliance officer for the state agency. “We also look to see if any of our rules were violated.” He said the investigation could take up to several months depending on the complexity of the chain of events. He said the investigators will photograph and videotape the scene and interview witnesses, employees, sheriff’s officials and others. Merit Energy officials declined to comment.

NE OIL MAN INJURED IN BURNS ACCIDENT 
16:00 – 08 April 2003 
A Worker was airlifted from a North Sea platform after burning his face. The man was replacing pipes on the Ninian South platform, 90 miles north-east of Shetland, when the accident happened. Shetland Coastguard organised his evacuation to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. He was picked up by a rescue helicopter and flown to Aberdeen. A spokesman for platform operators Canadian Natural Resources said his injuries were slight. He said: “A crewman of the Ninian South platform was taken ashore by coastguard helicopter to hospital for treatment. He was involved in pipeline replacement work when the accident happened.” He said the worker had been replacing a flange – a part for joining pipes – at the time. The man has not been named. The Health and Safety Executive confirmed it was aware of the situation. A spokeswoman said it was too early to say whether an inquiry would be carried out. 

CLOTHING FACTORY HIT BY HUGE BLAZE 
09:09 – 08 April 2003 
Firefighters battled through the night to bring a blaze that tore through a city clothing factory under control. More than 60 firefighters were sent to B and B Leisurewear, which manufactures ladies’, gents’ and children’s clothing, in Boyer Street, at 8.25pm last night. This morning they were still tackling the blaze and they expected to continue damping down at the factory, which measures 60 metres by 20 metres, for the rest of the day. The incident caused thousands of pounds of damage as the blaze ripped through the building, destroying much of the stock, which included material and screen printing tools. No-one was injured in the blaze and an investigation has been launched to determine how it started. Divisional officer and incident commander Kevin Kaye, based at Ascot Drive, said: “From what we can see at the moment, it looks as though the fire started at the back of the building. I am keeping an open mind, we are not necessarily treating it as suspicious. “When we arrived, we were worried that the fire could spread to the terraced houses next to the Girls’ Brigade building but, luckily, it did not. “We started damping down at about 6am and we expect to continue damping down all day.” A passer-by said that he had smelled smoke at about 7pm last night. But the fire brigade was not alerted until 8.30pm which meant that the fire may have been burning for 90 minutes before crews arrived. Mr Kaye said that it had not been necessary to evacuate the nearby homes. Nine fire crews, from Derby, Ilkeston, Long Eaton, Duffield, Heanor and Ashbourne, were called to tackle the blaze. Two high-rise appliances were also used to dowse the flames, which proved difficult to control, with jets of water from above. Ken Brown (68), of Woods Lane, dialled 999 when he saw the fire last night. He said: “It looked like a serious fire to me, flames were coming out of the roof.” About 20 firefighters were at the scene this morning and Boyer Street remained closed to traffic, although the barriers were moved to allow buses to pass through. It is believed that the factory belongs to two brothers called Mr Singh. One of them is on holiday in India and the other was too upset to talk about what had happened. Workers making their way to the factory were shocked and dismayed when told of the incident and asked to go home. One worker, who did not wish to be named, said: “Everyone is really upset. It is a real shock and it is their livelihood that has gone up in flames.” 

Perilous blaze quelled at plant; Huge chemical explosion feared, Factory blast in 1995 spread toxins
CAL MILLAR STAFF REPORTER
The threat of a massive explosion was averted early yesterday when Toronto firefighters extinguished a blaze at a Scarborough chemical plant. The fire erupted in a large vat at Schenectady Canada, on Comstock Rd. in the Warden and Eglinton Aves. area, as an employee was manufacturing a chemical product. Platoon Chief Jack Walford said the employee was burned when the vat caught fire and was taken to Scarborough General Hospital for treatment. Hospital officials said the man, who was not identified, was released after treatment but may require further medical attention to prevent scarring. The fire, caused by a buildup of static electricity, was extinguished with firefighting chemicals. Once the vat was closed, safety features allowed fumes to vent into the atmosphere, but the area was covered with nitrogen to prevent any further fire. There were no injuries among the 45 firefighters at the scene, but the fire could have touched off a “catastrophic” blast if it had spread to other containers, Walford said. Several employees working overnight at the sprawling plant were ordered out and plans were made to evacuate the area if firefighters weren’t soon successful. The closest homes are about one kilometre away, well away from the danger. Most of the firefighting vehicles were positioned about half a block from the plant to protect them in the event of an explosion, and traffic was rerouted during the more than two hours firefighters worked at the scene. Yesterday’s incident came eight years after a blast at the same factory sent a red mushroom cloud of poisonous chemicals into the air. Hundreds of workers and about 1,400 students were evacuated from five schools following the April 11, 1995 explosion, which scattered pink dust containing phenols and formaldehyde on the neighbourhood. “It created a large gas cloud, which is toxic and corrosive. It went with the wind,” said then-Scarborough fire Chief Tom Powell on the day of the blast. Formaldehyde — suspected to be cancer-causing — is an irritant that can cause headaches and a burning sensation in the eyes, throat and skin. No one was seriously injured in that blast, but it blew a 4-metre-square hole in the plant’s roof and ripped apart a wall. With files from Cynthia Lee

JACKSONVILLE PLANT BLAST INJURES TWO
STAFF April 07, 2003 
JACKSONVILLE – An explosion at a plastic molding machine inside Plastic Inc. on North Bolton Avenue injures two. One was hospitalized after suffering chemical burns when a hydraulic cylinder blew out. Capt. Kevin McKinney, Jacksonville Fire Department, said the 32-year-old man was working on a plastic molding machine when the cylinder blew and de-gloved his left arm possibly fracturing one of his hips and burning him with hydraulic fluid. McKinney said the man was transported to East Texas Medical Center in Jacksonville, then later transported to ETMC in Tyler. Another man was knocked to the floor, but received only minor injuries. “We have contacted OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration), but they have not told us if they were coming to investigate or not,” he said.

Okla. Fuel Fire Closes Schools Near Tulsa
Associated Press
GLENPOOL, Okla. – A stubborn fire at a fuel storage tank depot spread early Tuesday, sending thick black smoke over suburban Tulsa and forcing officials to close schools and order evacuations of nearby homes and businesses. The fire began Monday night with an explosion in a ConocoPhillips tank holding diesel fuel. Firefighters were still trying to douse the flames when the blaze spread early Tuesday. Downed power lines fell onto spilled fuel, igniting a smaller tank holding a petroleum product called naphtha, ConocoPhillips spokesman Kenneth Ray said. Fire Capt. Mike Loman said the biggest concern was preventing the fire from spreading to a tank holding highly volatile unleaded fuel. About a dozen people were cleared from the area. No injuries were reported, and officials said the smoke was not believed to be hazardous. The cause of the fire was not immediately known, but Ray said static electricity was suspected. 

UPDATE Investigations begin into fatal gas rig blast 
Department of Natural Resources and Mines officers have started interviewing witnesses to yesterday’s fatal gas rig explosion, in Queensland’s southern inland. The evidence will be part of a coroner’s inquest. The accident happened about 11:30 yesterday morning, when a gas blowout caused a major explosion at a rig outside the town of Surat, south of Roma. Two petroleum and gas inspectors are now at the site taking statements, but they will not be able to look closely at the rig until the fire is out. The company that owns the gas rig, Origin Energy, has launched its own investigation. Experts have also been called to work out the best way to extinguish the blaze inside the gas rig. A spokesman for the Natural Resources and Mines Minister says an explosion of this type has not been reported in Queensland since 1923 when a similar accident happened at nearby Roma.

Debswana investigates cause of fire at Jwaneng mine 
07 April, 2003 
Debswana Diamond Mining Company has launched an investigation into the cause of a fire which damaged the crushing and screening building of the Main Treatment Plant (MTP) at Jwaneng mine on Thursday morning. The fire broke out when routine welding was done on one of the scrubber screens and severely damaged one of the four production streams in the entire building. A press release from the mine applauded Jwaneng Town Council, Gaborone City Council, Lobatse Town Council and the Mine’s fire Brigade for swiftly working together to put out the fire. “Through this tremendous effort the fire was successfully contained to one production stream and the mine was thus able to avoid what could have been a long delay with no production.” It says an engineering team worked throughout the night with electrical repair work, belt replacement and instrument repairs. “Debswana is happy to report that the MTP is running again although not fully, that is on three of the four streams”, said the release. The release also explained that the mine would be running at 80 per cent to 90 per cent of throughput rate for a period of seven to 10 days, while the damaged section is being repaired. The fire did not only cause damaged but it also put into hold production for about 13 hours. “The total stoppage was approximately 13 hours after the planned 12 hour maintenance stoppage’, according to the release. Debswana did not disclose the costs of the damage because investigations into the cause of the fire and associated issues is underway.

Blast injures oil workers
Paula Doneman Leanne Edminston and Amanda Gearing 08apr03
THREE men were badly burned in a gas explosion on a rural Queensland oil field yesterday, with one worker fighting for his life. Fire crews battled for several hours to bring the blaze under control on a drilling rig at an exploratory gas field site at Myall Creek near Surat, 500km west of Brisbane. One worker was in a critical but stable condition with burns to more than 80 per cent of his body, and the other two men were in a serious but stable condition with burns to up to 20 per cent of their bodies. All three were on an Origin Energy rig and had just finished drilling for gas at a well about 25km southeast of Surat. They were “nippling down” to close off the gas well just before midday when the gas exploded, critically injuring the gas driller. The two men working beside him were thrown back by the force of the explosion. One received burns to his back and the third suffered facial burns, a fractured elbow and a dislocated shoulder. Two specialist burns medical evacuation teams from Royal Brisbane Hospital were flown to Surat to stabilise the patients and prepare them for evacuation. Warroo Shire SES chairman Len Ward said the accident was the first one on the oil and gas fields near Surat and it was still unclear what had happened. SES volunteers were called to the site to help rescue the victims from the rig which often had up to 10 employees working at any one time. Queensland Fire and Rescue Service area director Graham Cooke said 11 firefighters had worked to bring the blaze under control. “The fire is contained at the well head but is burning fiercely,” he said. “There is a large amount of water being supplied by the shire and local water carriers. It won’t be extinguished tonight.” Queensland Ambulance Service assistant commissioner for the southwest region Murray Excell said the Royal Flying Doctors Service transported two specialist retrieval teams to bring the patients from the Surat Hospital to Brisbane last night. Another six people were treated at the scene but did not require further help. The first of the three victims airlifted to Brisbane late yesterday was wheeled into the RBH at about 6pm after being rushed by ambulance from the airport, with the second victim arriving just over an hour later. As doctors began treating both men, preparations were still be made in Surat to stabilise and airlift the third and most seriously injured rigger. An RBH spokeswoman would not comment on the status of the men last night, other than to say all were expected to be admitted to the intensive care unit. Origin Energy’s parent company, Oil Company of Australia, said last night the fire was under control and was being closely monitored. A spokesman said company technical specialists and government mining officials were on site to determine how to safely extinguish the fire and shut off the gas flow. “A full investigation to determine the cause of the incident will be conducted as soon as practicable,” he said. 

UPDATE Fire in Chinese food processing plant kills 21
2003/4/7 BEIJING, AP
A fire roared through a food processing plant in eastern China early Sunday, killing 21 workers on the night shift, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. The fire broke out just after midnight as about 500 workers were inside the plant belonging to Qingdao Chia Tai Co. Ltd., located on the outskirts of the port city of Qingdao, Xinhua said. The building collapsed in the blaze, trapping some of those inside, it said. Investigators from Qingdao and the surrounding province of Shandong were dispatched to the scene to investigate the fire’s cause, Xinhua said. The company has 4,000 employees, it said. No other details were given.