Chemical plant explosion rocks Massachusetts town
Pastor Dale Morgan
*Chemical plant explosion rocks Massachusetts town*
22 Nov 2006 18:56:39 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Scott Malone
DANVERS, Mass., Nov 22 (Reuters) - Huge explosions at a chemical plant
rocked a suburb north of Boston early on Wednesday, sparking a massive
fire that injured 10 people and damaged nearly 100 homes and buildings,
authorities said.
The explosions at privately held ink maker CAI Inc. in the town of
Danvers, about 20 miles (32 km) north of Boston, were felt as far away
as neighboring New Hampshire and Maine just before 3 a.m. (0800 GMT),
but no one was seriously injured.
"This is a lot like a 2,000-lb bomb being dropped on a residential
neighborhood," Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney told reporters. Danvers
Fire Chief James Tutko said the blast leveled the plant and devastated
the area around it.
"It looks like a war zone," he said.
State authorities said the source of the explosion was unclear.
The fire sent plumes of black smoke about 100 feet (30 metres) in the
air in the blue-collar town of 25,200 people on Massachusetts' northern
shore. An acrid smell lingered in the afternoon, and some locals said
they feared for their health.
But fire officials said flames were under control. Live television
showed the simmering debris of CAI's flattened factory and emergency
workers sifting through wrecked homes.
The initial blast sent an orange mushroom cloud in the sky, blowing out
windows of buildings, knocking some homes off their foundation and
sending frightened locals fleeing into the street, some bleeding,
witnesses said.
"It was unbelievable," Bob Dunn, who witnessed the explosion, told
Boston's CBS news affiliate. "It actually took my truck one lane over
into the second lane."
"It's hard to describe. I'm still shaking two hours later," Dunn added.
State authorities said between 100 and 200 people were evacuated and
would remain in temporary shelters at local schools until the fire was
put out and the safety of their homes, many of which were seriously
damaged, had been confirmed.
"Some people called thinking it was an earthquake somewhere," said Peter
Judge, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.
The Environmental Protection Agency's on-scene coordinator, Michael
Nalipinski, said initial tests of the air near the site showed no
elevated levels of dangerous gases.
But when his team arrived early in the morning they saw "bright purple"
runoff draining into the tributary of the Danvers River along which the
plant was located, he added.
A woman who answered the phone at CAI's office in nearby Georgetown,
Massachusetts, said, "We have no comment at this time." She declined to
be identified.
The company makes printing inks and other coatings used in industrial
applications.
Esther Pelleti, 69, of Danvers, said: "It woke me right up. All I
remember is that I jumped up and was standing next to the bed. There was
a loud boom. The house shook. And I live all the way across town."
(Additional reporting by Jason Szep in Boston)