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Explosion causes $50 million in damage, chief says

Jack Keister, West Carrollton fire chief.

Robert Leifheit/Chemical Plant on Infirmary Rd in West Carrollton, causes quite a disturbance as it explodes into flames around 12:00 am Monday May 4th, 2009.

Photo by Robert Leifheit for the Dayton Daily News Robert Leifheit/Chemical Plant on Infirmary Rd in West Carrollton, causes quite a disturbance as it explodes into flames around 12:00 am Monday May 4th, 2009.

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By Thomas Gnau, Staff Writer Updated 11:39 PM Tuesday, May 5, 2009

The explosion and subsequent fire that hit a chemical plant Monday caused $50 million in damage, according to West Carrollton Fire Chief Jack Keister.

Keister also said Tuesday, May 5, that the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board has investigators on the scene to determine what happened. The board is an independent federal agency that investigates industrial chemical accidents.

In addition, Keister identified the hospitalized plant employee as Norman Gibbs of Franklin.

In the aftermath of the explosion, Keister said he was exhausted.

“I’d like to take a nap,” Keister said with a laugh early Tuesday.

Shortly after midnight Monday, an explosion and fire at the Veolia Environmental Services plant on Infirmary Road alarmed neighbors for miles.

Keister — a firefighter for 29 years and chief for 15 — said the blaze rivaled the 1986 Miamisburg train derailment as among the biggest events of his career.

“I’m thankful no one was killed,” the chief said.

“It’s the largest industrial explosion I’ve seen,” said Tim Spradlin, the Ohio fire marshal’s chief explosion investigator.

Responding to that fire meant two things, at least initially, Keister said: Trying to protect parts of the facility not yet ignited, including a building with storage drums and tanker trailers. Then, once the fire was down to a “manageable level,” attacking it with foam.

“Right from the start, we went defensive,” he said.

The blaze was substantially down by mid-afternoon Monday.

Six Veolia workers were on site at the time of the explosion, with four being injured, two seriously.

Keister said the workers were transferring solvents — a liquid or gas that dissolves, cleans or preserves — from one tank to another when vapor somehow began to escape.

“It’s pretty obvious from our standpoint,” Keister said. “They either had a malfunction or a failure of some part.”

The resulting vapor cloud was ignited somehow. Keister did not know how that happened, but he pointed to boilers used to generate steam for the plant as one possibility.

“All you need is a source of ignition,” he said.

Spradlin, a retired Xenia Twp. fire chief, said nothing criminal was uncovered.

“We know they had a leak in their process,” he said. “We’re not sure exactly why.”

Firefighters from West Carrollton, Miamisburg, Moraine and Miami Twp. responded, at one point putting some 40 people on the scene. By mid-morning, that number was down to 15 to 18 firefighters, he said.

Veolia put out a statement late Monday saying the company was working with authorities. Keister confirmed that, saying his department has responded to spills at the site in the past and has trained with employees.

“We’ve always had a pretty good relationship with them,” he said.

Darek Teeters, the facility’s manager, has not returned calls seeking comment. Don Cooper, interim state fire marshal, could not be immediately reached.

Keister said he was hopeful the facility could be reopened.

“They (Veolia) have a remediation team now and they’re bringing in some corporate people,” he said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2390 or tgnau@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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