One Killed, 63 Injured When Two Blasts Rock Chemical Plant

Explosions ripped through a chemical plant Thursday, killing one person, injuring as many as 63 others and shattering windows in houses and businesses up to a quarter-mile away, authorities said.

The two explosions ignited a fire that took 2 1/2 hours to knock down enough so that firefighters could enter the four-story brick building.

The blast sent fireballs 50 feet into the sky. A column of thick, black smoke poured from the building into the surrounding residential neighborhood. Some of the injured were cut by shattered glass at a supermarket.

Fire Chief Bill Miller said the plant had accounted for all its employees. He said up to 63 people were injured. Area hospitals said four were critically injured.

About 1,000 people were evacuated from houses in the neighboring incorporated area of Norwood for the night while authorities checked for structural damage, said Norwood safety director Darryll Maxwell. He said six homes had been declared uninhabitable.

Air tests performed by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency around the plant found no toxic gases in the smoke, Miller said.

About 200 people work at the BASF Corp. plant, which makes linings for cans and coatings for paper cups. The building contained about 50 chemicals, including explosive solvents and varnishes, workers at the scene said.

Volatile and explosive solvents may have leaked from a mixing vat and been ignited by a spark, said Malcolm Adcock, an assistant health commissioner. But he stressed this was merely a hypothesis.

Kenneth D. Diedenhofer, a BASF production manager, said the company was investigating the possibility of a “pressure buildup” of chemicals in equipment that was being cleaned.

Dan Delaney, who works near the plant, said he saw a huge ball of fire and smoke out of his office window.

“Shortly thereafter, everybody was running down the street, out of the building to get out, sort of in a panic, just getting out of there as fast as they could,” Delaney said.