Friday, February 6, 2015

3 INJURED (1 BADLY BURNED) AFTER GAS CYLINDER EXPLOSION AT AGL WELDING SUPPLY CO. IN CLIFTON. 3-ALARM BREAKS OUT.




 3 INJURED (1 BADLY BURNED) AFTER GAS CYLINDER EXPLOSION AT AGL WELDING SUPPLY CO. IN CLIFTON.  3-ALARM BREAKS OUT.

 February 6, 2015

CLIFTON. N.J. (WABC) -- 

At least one worker was injured in a three-alarm fire and small industrial explosion Friday morning.

The fire broke out inside AGL Welding Supply in the 600 block of Route 46 just before 7 a.m.

One person was burned and taken to St. Joseph's Hospital in Paterson. A second person sustained a minor injury.

Route 46 was closed for fire department activity.

New Jersey Transit Main line service has been suspended between Hawthorne and Clifton. Shuttle bus service being setup between Hawthorne and Clifton.

Firefighters were on the scene putting out the fire.

CLIFTON – A male worker was severely burned and another was injured when oxygen they were using to fill cylinders inexplicably exploded, fire Chief Vincent Colavitti Jr. said.

A truck driver working nearby was shaken up by the force of the explosion and taken to Hackensack University Medical Center.

The 7 a.m. explosion at the AGL Welding Supply Co. on Route 46 ignited a fire that went to three alarms before being declared under control at 8 a.m. The chief said the three alarms were needed to have enough manpower to deal with the bitter cold conditions.

The severely injured man is at St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center until he can be transferred to the burn unit of St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston. The other worker was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center suffering from minor smoke inhalation.

There were 26 employees in the building and all are accounted for, Colavitti said. The plant will be allowed to reopen today.
Route 46 near the plant, which is at 600 Route 46, was shut down in both directions because of the fire as was Exit 154 of the Garden State Parkway northbound.

Fifty firefighters from Clifton, Paterson, Passaic, Nutley and Montclair were working at the height of the fire. The Passaic County Sheriff’s Office, the New Jersey State Police and New Jersey Transit police were assisting.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which probes workplace accidents, the fire investigation bureau of the Clifton Fire Department and the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office are investigating because of the magnitude of the man’s injuries.  But the explosion is believed to be accidental or negligent operation of the filling operations or luck of training of the workers.  The investigation is ongoing.