Fire, Blasts Rock St. Louis Plant

[Gold9472]

Fire, blasts rock St. Louis plant
No injuries in blaze at industrial gases facility

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8348387/

http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Video/050624/n_stlouis_fire_050624.300w.jpg

The Associated Press
Updated: 9:09 p.m. ET June 24, 2005

ST. LOUIS - A blaze at an industrial plant sent huge fireballs shooting into the sky Friday afternoon, casting a towering cloud of black smoke over the area as traffic backed up and nearby residents evacuated their homes.

There were no injuries, St. Louis Fire Chief Sherman George said. There also was no word on the cause of the rapid-fire series of spectacular explosions at Praxair Distribution, which processes propane and other gases for industrial use.

Company spokeswoman Susan Szita Gore said she wasn’t certain how many of the plant’s 70 employees were there at the time of the explosions, but all were evacuated safely.

The explosions appeared to come from tanks outside the plant and from the plant itself. Cars and trucks parked nearby caught fire.

Firefighters held back at first before trying to battle the blaze as the blasts sent flames more than 150 feet in the air. The fire and smoke could be seen for several miles.

‘Fireball after fireball’
“At the height of the event, it was just fireball after fireball rising into the air,” said Chris Casey, an employee of Saint Louis University several blocks away. “It looked like movie pyrotechnics. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

Homes and businesses were being evacuated in the mostly residential area south of downtown, and major traffic backups caused by the fire delayed the start of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball game by a half-hour.

Police Chief Joe Mokwa said Interstate 64 was shut down near the site for fear that additional cylinders might explode. But by late afternoon, officials said they believed the materials had stabilized.

Cylinders ‘shooting 100 feet into the air’
During the most intense period of the fire, Mokwa said, cylinders were “shooting 100 feet into the air.”

The company is part of Praxair Inc. of Danbury, Conn. A spokesman had no immediate information on the fire.

The company’s primary products are atmospheric gases such as oxygen, nitrogen, argon and rare gases, along with process and specialty gases like carbon dioxide, helium, hydrogen, semiconductor process gases and acetylene.

Leland Darrow, assistant area director of the Occupational Health and Safety Administration office in St. Louis, said he was not aware of any safety violations at the plant.

Mayor Francis Slay said the city was monitoring air at the site to make sure no hazardous materials were being released. “So far we have not detected any,” he said.

© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[Gold9472]

Explosions rock south side plant

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/613D3BFB199FE4478625702A0072BE82?OpenDocument

By the Post-Dispatch staff
06/24/2005

Rapid-fire explosions and fire erupted at a plant near Jefferson and Chouteau, just west of downtown, this afternoon, sending flames, debris and dense smoke hundreds of feet into the air.

The three-alarm blaze began around 3 p.m. at Praxair, a gas and tank company at 2210 Chouteau. As of 4 p.m. explosions had slowed to perhaps one per minute from the frenetic pace of earlier in the afternoon. More than a dozen emergency vehicles were at the scene, and a number of ambulances were seen with their lights flashing.

Susan Gore, a spokeswoman for Praxair, reported that all of the 70 workers at the plant were safe and had been accounted for.

The Cardinals announced that the starting time of tonight's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates had been delayed for 30 minutes, until 7:40 p.m.

Fire Chief Sherman George said when firefighters arrived at the scene, they determined that the building had been evacuated. He said no firefighters have been injured and they just waited until the explosions stopped before they began moving in.

Police Chief Joe Mokwa said people evacuated from the five-block area around the plant -- Highway 40 to Park and 18th to Jefferson Avenue -- could go to three sites -- a cooling center at Tucker and Park; Lafayette Park; and Chouteau and Cardinal. He said there was some concern that unstable chlorine gas could cause a problem so he wanted to make sure that people left the immediate area of the fire.

Debris sails skyward
Highway 40 was closed from Kingshighway east to the Poplar Street Bridge. Metro also announced changes in bus routes because of the fire.

The Chippewa, heading eastbound from Crestwood, follows its regular route to Jefferson and Park. It then turns right on Park and left on 14th Street to the Civic Center. Heading westbound from the Civic Center, buses on this route turn right on 14th Street, right on Park, and then left on Jefferson to resume their regular route.

The Eureka Express follows its regular route to 14th and Clark, then turns left on Clark, right on Tucker, left on Jefferson and left on Interstate 44 to resume its regular route. The Twin Oaks Express follows its regular route to Jefferson and Market. It continues west to Compton, where it turns left, then left on Russell, left on Jefferson, and left on I-44 to resume its normal route.

Authorities say the fire grew for the first hour after it began, sending scraps of cylinders high into the air. The thick smoke, which could be seen for a large area around the fire scene, prompted police to evacuate buildings and businesses for several blocks in the area.

The company, city records show, has spent $114,000 on installing fire sprinklers since 1998. Praxair also was issued a building permit for "interior alterations" earlier this year. The firm applied for a business license to operate in St. Louis in 1989, records show, and has 34 employees at the Chouteau location.

Carolyn Willmore was at her home on Albion Place when the explosions began. The blasts were so intense, she said, it caused the windows on her home five blocks to bend inward.

"You could see all the windows sucking in," Willmore said.

Alderman Lewis Reed, whose Sixth Ward includes the plant, was in his office just blocks away when the explosion occurred.

Reed said he could feel the heat all the way from Mississippi Street, about a third of a mile away. Reed said that industrial canisters "literally flew" into the yard's of near-by residents.

"Just huge chunks of metal," Reed said. "Debris just zooming across the sky. I have never, ever seen anything like that in my life."

The fire began with one explosion followed by a series of loud blasts -- "boom, boom, boom!" Reed said.

The neighborhood scene
The plant is near Lafayette Square, a neighborhood that has seen a renaissance with lofts and renovations of historic houses. Praxair is so close to the neighborhood that residents could often hear the plant's loudspeaker from their homes. Reed said residents have complained about noise from the facility for years, especially the sound of fork-lifts picking up metal canisters.

"Clink, clink, clink, all night long," Reed said.

Other nearby workers also were affected by the blasts and fire.

"They must have hundreds of tanks back there," said Mike Giffin, a shipping and receiving worker at F&C Truck Sales & service at 2350 Chouteau.

He said he heard explosions around 3 p.m., when he was on the telephone. "I told my girlfriend I'm leaving the building."

Tonya Mitchel, a receptionist at F&C, heard the explosion as well. "It sounded like the ceiling was falling in," she said.

Praxair has 27,000 employees and operations in 40 countries, with annual sales of $6.6 billion. It supplies atmospheric, process and specialty gases, high-performance coatings, and related services and technologies.

[miss_muffet]

this hit close to home. really close. i am a st. louis native.

[Gold9472]

Do you know anything more about it?

[911=inside job]

it was great to watch.. lol...