Explosion at Austin Powder Plant in Rural Southern Ohio

An explosion at the Austin Powder plant near McArthur, Ohio, sent four employees to Columbus, Ohio, trauma center on Tuesday.

Upon arriving at the scene, Med-Flight was called, with three helicopters needed to transport victims to a trauma center in Columbus. Incident Command leader, McArthur Assistant Chief, Tim Ward and his crew established a landing zone inside the fence on plant property near State Route 677. Injured in the incident were: Marletta Betts, Becky Castor, Debbie Hagerty, and Helen Hall. All of the victims, except Hall were transported by air. The injuries reported for Betts, Castor, and Hagerty were reported as serious to critical. EMA Director, Tom Coelho was informed that third degree burns, and a possible spinal injury were caused by the explosion.

Sheriff Dave Hickey, and Deputy Shawn Justice aided in traffic control, and coordination of emergency efforts. Four state highway patrol officers, along with ODOT employees contained a safety perimeter of the area, with the roadway being blocked for over and hour.

Plant representative, Brian Gilliland worked with emergency workers to assist in the efforts, and the contacting of victim's families. Gilliland told The Telegram that a press release would be made in the next day or two after investigation of the incident concludes.

The scene outside of the plant was both hectic, and frightened as employees' families walked the roadside awaiting word of the injured parties. Emergency responders and plant staff were in preliminary agreement that the safety precautions inside the building responded as expected, and minimized the injury and possible death toll. The sprinkler systems kicked on after the explosion, keeping the blaze from spreading to other parts of the complex, and allowing rescue workers to reach the injured employees.

"We are going to allow the sprinklers to run for the next 12 hours to extinguish any hot embers before allowing anyone inside the building," Gilliland told The Telegram. "We don't want to endanger the firefighter's lives, due to possible sparks upon entering the building at this time."

The state fire marshal and ATF responded the accident scene within an hour of the incident. Both are mandated to review and inspect accidents dealing with explosives within the state of Ohio. ATF Special Agent, Kimberly Riddell told The Telegram she agreed with the precaution of allowing the sprinklers to do their job before entering the building. A crew of trained ATF members will remain at the plant and conduct preliminary examinations and speak with facility administrators today.

The McArthur Firefighters performed decontamination procedures on two of the female victims before they were transported by Medflight. The department is Ha-Mat certified for decon, and used caution, as well as pilot's request to carefully removed all remaining explosive powder from the women before entering the helicopter. A dime sized amount of the exlposive, it hit accidently could detonate, and cause not only further harm to the victim, but extensive damage to the helicopter and medical staff. The decon had to be performed quickly due to the critical nature of the injuries, but safely due to the extensive burns on the bodies of the women. Worst case scenario, an explosion which could have taken down the helicopter itself, if unexploded particles were hit or jarred during transport, or strapping onto the gurney.

The fire department and Austin Powder wanted to commend and thank the EMS staff who went in to retrieve the victims, into a room with explosives. Plant staff told Firefighters they weten't needed inside the buidling because the sprinklers came on and put the fire out, but the victims needed pulled out, the EMS workers went into an explosives filled room, and all on scene were impressed with them. Austin Powder staff and administrators expressed their concern for the victims, and are keeping on contact with the families to stay updated on their conditions. Gilliland personally expressed his concern for the injured staff, their families, and employees who were effected by the incident. From what was visible at the scene, plant personnel were working with all law enforcement and emergency agencies involved to extract the injured workers, and allow access to the site.