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.
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.