Tacoma, Washington Jarred By Foundry Blast

By Karyn Chenoweth Oct 7, 2007, 19:05 GMT

The Seattle Times reports fire filled the sky over Tacoma's Nalley Valley industrial area on Saturday afternoon, when a tanker-truck explosion at a foundry sent flames reportedly as high as 1,000 feet in the air.

The explosion at Atlas Castings & Technology sent four people to the hospital, closed a major highway and backed up traffic on nearby roads.

The fire at the foundry was still burning late Saturday night, and firefighters were working to cool additional propane tanks on site so they would not blow up.

"What happens is in a contained vessel, if you have a product inside boil and then expand and there is nowhere for it to go — if it doesn't release fast enough — that's where you get the explosion," said Jolene Davis, deputy chief of the Tacoma Fire Department to the Seattle Times. "So we are still concerned. ... It's not like a structure fire where the risk kind of goes down."

The foundry employees were all accounted for, according to the Times.

Three injured foundry employees were taken to St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma. Hospital officials said one suffered facial burns and was in stable condition. The other two suffered leg and knee injuries and would likely be discharged, according to a nursing supervisor at the hospital.

The fourth injured person, the driver of the propane truck, reportedly in his 60s, was airlifted to Seattle's Harborview Medical Center, where he was in critical condition Saturday night, according to The Associated Press.

The foundry, at 3021 S. Wilkeson St., is in the Nalley Valley, an industrial area, with homes on the surrounding hills, near the intersection of I-5 and Highway 16.

Trooper Brady Kessler of the State Patrol said the fire started when a delivery truck, loaded with 8,000 gallons of propane, exploded at the foundry, starting a fire in a nearby propane tank.

The explosion backed up traffic for miles on Interstate 5 and closed Highway 16 between I-5 and Union Street, forcing drivers to find back roads to get to Gig Harbor and other communities.

The force of the blast rattled the nerves of numerous nearby residents and blew out windows in nearby industrial buildings, and the axle from the propane truck that exploded was found on Highway 16, at least four blocks away.

Tacoma Public Utilities reported about 13,000 homes and businesses without power for about 30 minutes after the explosion. The fire affected two substations, said utility spokesman Randy Stearnes. Power was restored to most of the customers by midnight according to the Seattle Times.

Investigators with the state Department of Labor and Industries will be looking into Saturday's accident, according to department spokesman Steve Pierce.