Blast Injures Two Workers at Irvine Rubber Plant
Two maintenance workers were injured, one critically, when an electrical panel exploded Monday at an Irvine processing plant, authorities said.
The men, both 43, were changing a circuit breaker in the main electrical room at Valley Processing, a rubber-processing plant in the 17000 block of Eastman Avenue, when the explosion occurred about 8 p.m.
“Something fell, causing a short arc,” said Capt. Stephen Miller, a spokesman for the Orange County Fire Authority. That caused the explosion, he said.
The burned workers were taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange.
One was reported in critical condition with second- and third-degree burns over 30% of his body, Miller said.
The other was in moderate condition with burns on 20% of his body. The names of the two men were not immediately released.
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