Offshoreonly.com - Explosion at Mercury Plant, Fund du lac

Just spotted this on another board.

Flash explosion at Mercury Marine plant causes one minor injury

Mercury Marine plant evacuated; fire reported

A Mercury Marine employee sustained minor injuries after an over-head dust collector exploded Friday morning in a 50-foot fireball.
The injured man was covered in soot and ash from the explosion, but exited the plant with only minor cuts, said Fond du Lac Fire Department Capt. Randy Cunzenheim. The man’s injuries were treated at the scene, but he refused medical transport to the hospital.
The flash explosion occurred close to the ceiling of the castings plant and did not reach the level of the floor, Cunzenheim said. The fire department was called to the scene at 9:46 a.m. and began search and rescue procedures inside the building, which was completely filled with smoke.

“There was zero visibility in the building,” Cunzenheim said. “After about 15, 20 or 25 minutes, we got a report from a Mercury representative that all the personnel were accounted for.”

There were several remnants of fires still burning when the fire department arrived at the scene, but Cunzenheim said the biggest part of the operation was the search and rescue. Because of all the machinery and large bins, it is a very difficult and dangerous building to search, he said.

One Mercury Marine representative believes a fan inside the collector’s ductwork may have malfunctioned and rubbed against the walls of the duct, Cunzenheim said. This would have created sparks, which could have ignited the dust inside the collector.

Seven or eight sprinkler heads sprayed water in the affected area of the plant and left several inches of standing water throughout the building. Electricity was shut off to the building to protect rescue personnel and possible victims from being shocked.

“That is always a priority in any structure fire, but it is certainly more significant with all the voltage running through the machines,” Cunzenheim said. “Our guys were crawling around in the water, so we were obviously worried about electrical shock.”

Much of the damage to the facility was to machinery. The structure appears to be OK, he said. Fire fighters climbed up to the roof to make sure no fire had spread to the outside.

The department was asked to assist Mercury Marine employees as they turned power to the building back on around 11:30 a.m.

More information will be posted on The Reporter Web site as soon as it becomes available.