Six Injured in Explosion at Housing Site

Construction of a luxury housing tract in Irvine went awry Thursday when explosives being used on the site blew a blizzard of rocks at workers, injuring six of them.

Neither authorities nor the construction companies know what caused the accident, which occurred when a blast sent debris 1,000 feet farther than expected.

“To have something go that far, something went . . . wrong,” said Jim Moore, vice president of the E.L. Yeager Construction Co., contractor on the job. “We’re shook up.”

Four men, 30 to 40 years old, were taken to local hospitals. One man who had lacerations to his calf underwent surgery at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach. Two others were treated for neck injuries and released. The fourth man was treated for a hand injury at Irvine Medical Center.

Two others were treated at the scene.

The accident occurred about 2:15 p.m. just south of Bonita Canyon Drive, near the San Joaquin Hills toll road. The explosion was heard for miles around in Irvine and Newport Beach.

The Irvine Co. is preparing the site for an extension of the Newport Ridge housing development that will include 200 homes selling for $700,000 to $900,000 as well as 200 apartment units.

Norm Witt, vice president of the Irvine Co., said workers had been blasting at the site for four months without problems. The explosions shake loose the diabase rock, and enormous earthmovers are used to clear the debris.

In this case, workers filled 134 holes with a total of 30,000 pounds of explosives. Workers were 1,100 to 1,500 feet away from the explosion, according to the Orange County Fire Authority and Moore.

They expected the rock to shoot into the air and land close to the original site. Instead, it shot more than 1,000 feet away, hitting workers standing in what they thought was a safety zone, denting autos and blowing out the back window of a truck.

After the explosion, the area was littered with rocks, and blood stained a small portion of the ground.

Moore said this was Yeager’s first blasting accident in his 40 years with the company.

Cal/OSHA investigators, who automatically launch inquiries into serious workplace accidents, will try to determine whether safety and health regulations were being observed at the site, said Richard Stephens, a spokesman for the state’s Department of Industrial Relations.

Officials from the blasting subcontractor, M.J. Baxter Drilling Co., did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Work on the 200-acre plot of land is expected to continue today.

Times staff writer Jack Leonard and Times correspondent Andre Briscoe contributed to this story.

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Blast Goes Awry

Six construction workers were injured Thursday when a planned explosion went awry, hurling debris 1,500 feet farther than expected, authorities said. What happened:

Planned Explosion: Charges send rocks upward

What Went Wrong: Debris flies outward, injures workers

Source: Orange County Fire Authority