"massive explosion that could be heard for several miles ..."

In general explosions in our industry are rare occurrences. When they occur, all hell breaks loose. Here is a recent explosion show the catastrophic damage that can result when an explosion occurs

A massive explosion that could be heard for several miles around (location name omitted) late Sunday afternoon later led to a breakout of several fires at a local industrial plant, authorities say.  No one was injured.  All 16 employees working at the plant on Willow Run Road were accounted for after the explosion and series of fires, according to (local) County Fire Director.

He said it was not immediately clear where the employees were working at the time of the explosion, but they were elsewhere inside the plant at that time.  “We got a call shortly after 5 p.m. of an explosion at (aluminium company name omitted), which is an aluminum recycling facility,” County Fire

Director told (local print news media) at the scene. “This explosion was pretty significant. I live five miles from here and heard it. It kind of rattled my house as well. Like I said, it was a pretty significant explosion.”  County Fire Director said it was miraculous that none of the employees were injured or worse.

Shortly after 7 p.m. Sunday, County Fire Director said firefighters were still involved in the extinguishment stage of several fires in what is referred to as a stackhouse, a filtering area, where the explosion occurred.  “We haven’t as of yet established a cause for the explosion at this point,” County Fire Director said. “It was isolated outside of the plant, but we did have some spot fires get inside the plant.”  Though some published reports indicated there were multiple explosions, County Fire Director said there was only one explosion and it occurred on the outer portion of the stackhouse near the railroad tracks.

As he spoke to media representatives about the fire for the first time, he said that firefighters were still dealing with the spot fires.  “And we had a couple of fires around the railroad tracks,” County Fire Director said.  He said that air quality control tests had been performed within a half-mile to a mile radius, and nothing had been detected.  “We had no issues within that range of the facility,” County Fire Director said.  He also said authorities had checked to make sure residents at a nearby assisted living center were OK.  Air quality tests were also performed at the senior center but there were no concerns.  County Fire Director said there were no harsh chemicals inside the plant.  “It’s mainly aluminum, dust and magnesium,” he said.  County Fire Director said the explosion blew some panels all the way to the other side of the building.  An automotive shop reportedly had some slight damage from the explosion.  At least one homeowner also reported a shattered window.  Dozens of firefighters from Local County Fire Rescue, as well as three surrounding counties. Some were directly involved at the scene, while others manned local fire stations in the event of other emergency calls.  “We appreciate the help we received from everyone,” County Fire Director said.  The cause of the explosion remained under investigation Monday afternoon by local fire officials, along with a state fire marshal from the (state) Insurance Commissioner’s Office in (capital city).

We are thankful that no one was injured in the explosion and no fire department personnel were injured too. We are also thankful that it happened on the weekend in the evening. We shutter to think how many workers would have been at the site during the week.

The explosion and resulting fire came from the baghouse area. As soon as we learn what occurred we will post an update.

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