JULY 19, 2015
COLUMBIANA, Ohio (WKBN) –
A Lisbon man is hospitalized at Saint Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown after he was injured in an explosion behind the Columbiana Buick Cadillac Chevrolet dealership on East Railroad Street in Columbiana on Saturday.
Rich McCarty was using a welding torch to cut the lids off of 55-gallon drums when one of the drums exploded.
Columbiana Fire Chief Rick Garrity says the drums had contained concentrated windshield washer fluid which contains methanol; he believes the fumes from the methanol built up in the container that exploded. Dealership employees quickly extinguished the resulting fire.
There was no word on the condition of McCarty, but Garrity believed his injuries at the scene were not considered life threatening; the investigation continues.
The containers were being cut up for recycling.