AN EXPLOSION AND FIRE AT A WEAPONS PLANT in southern Arkansas Wednesday afternoon killed one worker.

The 1,200-acre facility in Camden is owned by Aerojet, a Defense Dept. contractor.  A company spokesman said that employees were involved in the routine manufacturing process of a rocket motor when an “unplanned ignition” occurred aroung 3:15 pm.  The blast started a fire that was not contained until after dark and still had spot fires throughout the night.

About 450 people were working in the plant at the time and they were all evacuated safely.  The fire department was not able to recover the victim during the night because of unsafe conditions.  They will resume the search for him today.

KTVH Ch. 11 in Little Rock has the STORY.
KTVH also filed this video report:

A KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN, MAN LITERALLY BLEW UP HIS chances to be nominated for Father-of-the Year Sunday night.  He was mixing up a batch of meth in the kitchen of his house where he lives with a woman and four children, when the recipe became unstable and blew up the kitchen.

The woman went running out of the house, screaming with burns on her back, legs and arms.  The considerate man joined her in abandoning the one girl who was home at the time and he jumped on a bike and pedaled away.  As the little girl described, “with his feet on fire.”  He finally pulled in to a hospital about 3 miles away and turned himself in to the ER.

There was apparently no residual fire in the house beyond the damage from the explosion.  All four children are now being cared for by relatives.

WOOD-TV has the STORY.

THE LIVINGSTON, NEW YORK, FIRE DEPARTMENT responded to a propane leak call Sunday around 11 am in the town of Gallatin, Columbia County.  Just as the first-in engine pulled up in front, the house exploded violently and started burning.

Poughkeepsie Journal photo

The explosion rocked the entire neighborhood and demolished the entire house.  Firefighters immediately pulled three adults out of the burning rubble, all of whom were conscious.  The three victims were a couple in their 60’s who live there with their grown son who is in his 40’s.  Two of them were flown to a burn center and the third was transported by ambulance.

A 200-lb. propane tank next to the house was still intact as the FD was trying to determine what ignited the gas.  The family had been away on vacation and arrived home to find the house filled with the gas when they called the FD.

The Daily Freeman has the STORY.

Globe and Mail image

Coroner’s officials are on the scene of the Sunrise Propane devastation investigating the body found early this morning at the site.  While the fatality hasn’t been identified yet, it is believed to be that of a Sunrise employee who has been missing since the blast and fire destroyed the entire complex.

While most of the 12,000 evacuees have been allowed to return home, about 100 houses are still uninhabitable.

Mayor David Miller held a news conference this morning and he stated that he is taking immediate measures to see that the zoning laws are changed to allow the city to prohibit such dangerous occupancies to build in residential areas.

Sunrise built their plant just four years ago taking advantage of outdated zoning regulations that were in force before Toronto annexed the North York community several years ago.  The final report on the explosion won’t be ready for several months, Miller said.

At last count, six people were transported to hospitals, 18 more were treated at an emergency clinic and 40 were treated on the scene by FD paramedics.  The only fatalities known so far are the one found this morning and one firefighter, District Chief Robert Leek who collapsed and died at the fire scene Sunday morning.

CTV has a 13-minute raw video of the incident taken after daylight from a helicopter HERE.

CTV

 It is coming out that anytime the city tried to upgrade the zoning regulations, the compressed gas lobbying groups would take them to court and have them overturned because they were in conflict with Provincial law.  The provincial legislature never permitted the cities to protect themselves from dangerous occupancies.

The Globe and Mail has a background article on how the zoning mess came about and why it hasn’t been updated HERE.

Update, 10:00 pm:
Toronto FD spokesman confirms that District Chief Robert Leek collapsed and died on the firegrounds.  It is believed to be a result of a heart attack. 

TORONTO FIRE SERVICES DIVISION CHIEF DAVID SHEEN has confirmed a firefighter fatality at the massive propane and industrial gas facility fire this morning.

The Globe and Mail reports:

A Toronto firefighter died Sunday after being found without vital signs outside the scene of a massive propane explosion that lit up the early morning sky in vivid orange fire balls.

Although the cause of the veteran firefighter’s death was not immediately clear officials said “it was not a traumatic injury.”

“It wasn’t impacted by anything, it was just in the course of him performing some operations that he went down,” said David Sheen, Toronto Fire Services division chief.  “I don’t know of any pre-existing medical conditions that could have contributed to this tragic accident.” 

A visibly shaken Sheen said he wouldn’t release the firefighter’s identity until next of kin were notified. He added he knew the man, a 25-year veteran, personally.

The mayor of Toronto said that the fire was “under control” by mid-afternoon, but there was still one propane tank burning.

Assoc. Press

update, 10:00 pm:  The evacuation order has been lifted and residents are now permitted to return to their homes.  Those whose houses are damaged beyond occupancy will be returned to the evacuation centers and provided for.  The main freeway that was closed is now almost fully opened.

(See original posting with video HERE, first update with aerial view of neighborhood HERE and second update HERE.)

THE WINDSOR STAR IS REPORTING:

Police have confirmed that a Toronto firefighter has been rushed from the scene of a series of massive explosions in a suburban neighbourhood early Sunday.

“We just got a call that he was taken from the scene, vital signs absent,” said Const. Peter Bolla. “We can’t say anything more than that.”

(Click HERE for a later update)

Reuters

The CanWest News Service is reporting that the worst of the fire is out and all tanks are cooled down.  Firefighters are still on the scene combatting many spot fires.

The propane company says that they have eight people unaccounted for, but some of them may not have been at work anyway.

One area resident is also missing.  The Fire Dept. reports that there are many houses in the area that suffered significant damage.

Despite the presence of the long-established residential area, the propane facility was allowed to build in the center of it just four years ago.  Neighbors have been complaining about it during the entire time.

(See original posting HERE with video and first update HERE with aerial view of neighborhood.)

Updates:  For later news updates and information on the firefighter fatality, see our reports HERE and HERE. 

 
Ch. 24 photo by Joseph Rowland

CANADIAN PRESS HAS JUST REPORTED:

Firefighters are close to extinguishing all the burning tanks at a propane facility in northwest Toronto, significantly reducing the risk of another explosion.

Division Commander Bob O’Hallarn tells a news conference the early morning explosion at Sunrise Propane Industrial Gases at Keele and Wilson burned a huge area of the city with intense heat.

He said given the impact of the blast, the city’s residents “got off very lucky.”

O’Hallarn said he is aware of only minor injuries among nearby residents, although one person is unaccounted for.

The Fire Marshal is scheduled to hold a press conference at noon.

From National Post: 

Toronto EMS duty officer David Viljak said emergency officials have received reports of “casualties” but can’t confirm them since the victims are “inside the hot zone” and behind the barricade.

“Actually . . . it was very large (the explosion), we are two miles away here, and we could feel it,” said the EMS officer.

This aerial view of the neighborhood has the fire area outlined.  Notice that the large industrial gas firm was permitted to build its terminal right in the middle of an established residential neighborhood.

National Post

TV Ch. 24 is reporting:

The TTC says it has buses patrolling the perimeter of the blocked-off area in order to pick up residents who don’t have a vehicle. Evacuees are urged to take medications and family pets when they leave their homes.

Air quality readings have so far indicated that the air in the area is not toxic.

Some minor injuries have been reported, but the nearby North York General Hospital says it has seen fewer than a dozen patients so far. Most of the patients were walk-ins experiencing breathing troubles, cuts and bruises and all have since been discharged.

Firefighters had been allowing two transport truck fuel tankers to continue burning off in order to avoid further explosions. One has been extinguished and another continues to burn, but should be out soon.

Channel 24 also has a good 12-minute video of the incident HERE.

Scroll down or click HERE for the first report and a video.

BEGINNING AT 4 AM SUNDAY, A ROLLING SERIES OF AT LEAST 60 EXPLOSIONS at a propane storage facility in Toronto, Ontario have been taxing the resources of the fire and police departments.

National Post

The Sunrise Propane Co. stores and distributes a number of highly-flammable industrial gasses including propane and acetylene, along with other pressurized gasses like oxygen and nitrogen.

The event started with a series of explosions starting a massive fire in the complex and continuing for the next five hours as fire crews lobbed master streams onto still-intact tanks in an effort to keep them cool and uninvolved.  The cause of the first explosion is not yet known.  So far, seven alarms have been struck.

Toronto police Sgt. Dan Martin said,  “There’s a possibility there were people in the building, but nothing is confirmed.  We won’t know until the situation has calmed down. Until the fire is out we won’t be able to get in there to investigate.”  So far there are no reports of fatalities and two people have been treated for injuries.  The area hospitals have been put on stand-by alert for the possibility of an influx of casualties.

Highway 401, Canada’s busiest road, has been closed in a three kilometre radius south of the explosion in both directions.
Police have also established a “no fly zone,” for the area.  Currently a mass evacuation in a 1/2 mile perimeter is being conducted.  Public transit busses are ferrying residents away from the area and many large hotels nearby have opened their doors to the evacuees.

This is an ongoing incident and will be updated throughout the morning.

Update, 11:00 am:
The Sunrise Propane facility operates 24-hrs. a day and there were people working there at the time of the blast.

The Canadian Press is estimating that as many as 12,500 people live within the evacuation zone.

Division Commander Bob O’Hallarn of Toronto Fire said that firefighters are trying to cool at least two propane rail tankers to keep them from exploding.  The tankers — which are venting — can hold up to 220,000 litres of propane, but it isn’t known if they are full, he said.

Update, 11:15 am
A home video showing a non-stop stream of explosions viewed from an apartment balcony:

Poor Eric Walter, 37, of Knoxville, Ohio, just west of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Five times in the last twelve years his house has had two fires and three explosions.

The blast that rocked the area for a mile around this past Thursday night completely destroyed his home….again. This time he was left with 2nd and 3rd-degree burns over 75% of his body. Walter is currently in the burn unit of West Penn Hospital of Pittsburgh in critical, but stable condition.

His strip of bad luck began in 1996 when his house burned down. It was determined to be an arson, but Walter was never a suspect of the crime.

The first time his house blew up was in 2001. After Walter rebuilt his home in that time, it blew up again in November, 2003. This time the blast was so severe that it blew the neighbor’s house off of its foundation. The neighbor, Steve Myers refused to rebuild his house in the same spot after that one.  “After our last house was destroyed, you come to a point where you don’t want to live across from someone like that,”  he said.  “This guy has to be an extremely unlucky individual.  Let’s put it that way.  It’s time someone takes a hard look at what’s going on here.  Someone is going to get hurt.”

They didn’t have to wait long, as it turned out.  In April, 2006, the house burned down again.  Never one to give up, Walter rebuilt for the fourth time, only to see it all turn to splinters again on Thursday.  This time the entire house was scattered in pieces all over the neighborhood.  Another neighbor, Jim Shaffer said:  “We were watching TV and it shook the whole house.  I said to my wife,  ‘That sounded like when Walter’s house burned down the first time.’” 

This time 23 fire trucks were on the scene all night with the blaze, hampered by the lack of a hydrant and having to set up a tanker shuttle.  They were held back aways, too, because of a continuing stream of at least 10 smaller explosions coming from propane cannisters and ammunition caches.

Poor Eric Walter.

WTOV-TV has the story and three videos HERE.

EVERYBODY LOVES TO WATCH THOSE BUILDING IMPLOSIONS.  I know that we do here at Firegeezer.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Monday morning in Larimer, Pennsylvania, a Pittsburgh suburb, a 50-yr.-old high rise was brought down.  The building formerly known as Auburn Towers had been a public-housing facility for old-age residents.  Last fall they were all relocated to other locations and the building was stripped in preparation for demolishment.

900 holes were drilled in structural columns and stuffed with 500 lbs. of explosives, a seemingly light load.  “We use a very small quantity of explosives to modify the integrity of the supporting columns and just let gravity have its way. It’s going to win for a change,” said Mark Loizeaux, of Controlled Demolition Inc.

Get your popcorn, sit back and enjoy the video:

IT WAS JUST UNDER A YEAR AGO, LAST AUGUST 6 that two young women in British Columbia died in an apartment fire started by a hot hookah that had not been properly extinguished following a smoke party.  Firegeezer reported on that tragedy HERE.

Another hot hookah is making the news this week. This time it’s from the Baltic nation of Estonia.  The Baltic Times reports:

Three minors sustained light injuries in a hookah explosion in the West Estonian town of Haapsalu.

The incident happened shortly before 3 a.m. July 26 in an apartment in Kastani Street, the West prosecutor’s office said. “The criminal probe has so far established that the explosion was caused by using a substance not intended for this purpose to light the hookah,” a spokesperson told the Baltic News Service.

The three minors were taken to hospital but released after receiving first aid.

“Nobody has so far been questioned as suspect in the case. Preliminary information indicates that the substance which caught fire and exploded was used out of ignorance. An expert study will establish what substance was involved,” the spokesperson said.

It’s becoming more and more evident that schools world-wide are negligent when it comes to teaching safe hookah use.  They spend a lot of time teaching safe cycling, safe eating and safe sex.  Firegeezer thinks that safe hookah smoking should be added to the curriculum.
 

A PAPER MILL IN NORTHERN WISCONSIN suffered an explosion inside a storage tank yesterday, killing at least three workers and injuring another one.

The Packaging Corporation of America, owners of the Tomahawk paper mill, issued a brief statement that disclosed that the blast took place in a recycled fiber storage tank around 1:30 Tuesday afternoon.  The three victims were standing on the top of the tank performing maintenance work at the time and the injured man was standing on a platform at a lower level.  There were about 10 workers in the immediate area when the blast occurred.

Capt. Mike Drury, from the nearby Merrill Fire Department, said his department was called to help free the trapped employees about 1:40 p.m. but the FD was put back in service before it arrived.  The plant’s own emergency service handled the incident.  The cause of the explosion is not yet known.

The plant was able to continue operating through the afternoon despite the incident.  Packaging Corp. of America makes containerboard and corrugated packaging products, operating four paper mills and 67 corrugated product plants in 26 states.