July 30, 2013 -- Updated 1535 GMT (2335 HKT)
Equipment failure and human error likely caused propane tank cylinders
to explode at a central Florida refilling plant late Monday, a fire
official said Tuesday. FULL STORY
July 30, 2013 -- Updated 1517 GMT (2317 HKT)
Witness hears 'hundreds of explosions'
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: The situation is contained and an overnight evacuation order is lifted, the state says
- The company says several of the 24 employees working at the time were injured
- There were 53,000 20-pound cylinders of propane at the facility
- The Blue Rhino facility refills propane tanks used in gas grills
The blasts at the Blue
Rhino plant in Tavares injured eight plant workers, said John Herrell of
the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
The situation is now
contained and an evacuation order issued overnight has been lifted, the
Florida Division of Emergency Management said in a news release.
Residents nearby saw a pulsating glow in the sky. One Tavares resident, Norma Haygood, told CNN affiliate WESH it felt like "bombs going off."
The fire was out by 2
a.m., three hours after the explosions began, and authorities are
investigating the cause, according to Tavares Fire Chief Richard Keith.
Keith, who lives a few miles away from the fire, said he "knew it was bad right off the bat."
"It truly sounded like a car hit our house," he said.
There had been earlier
reports of 15 missing workers, but all 15 were found safe, Keith said.
Some had fled the scene; some drove themselves to hospitals.
No residents were hurt, authorities said.
Series of explosions rock gas plant
Propane explosion seen miles away
Explosion at propane facility
There were 53,000 20-pound cylinders of propane at the facility -- more than a million pounds in all, Herrell said.
Firefighters immediately
set up a half-mile evacuation area around the plant. The nearest homes
-- about 50 of them -- are about three-quarters of a mile away, Herrell
said. And they began pouring water onto the facility.
Trucks parked at the
plant went up in fireballs as the cylinders they were carrying exploded.
The nighttime sky flickered in hues of orange.
"You could see the
explosions from across the lake," said Ashley McCormick, a resident in
nearby Mount Dora. "They were very intense."
There were 24 employees
at work at the time of the blasts, according to Scott Brockelmeyer, a
spokesman for Ferrellgas, the parent company of Blue Rhino. He said the
company is cooperating with investigators.
The incident was "as
sobering as you can possibly imagine," he told CNN. "We're sending good
vibes their way from all over the country."
The employees perform
such tasks as refurbishing cylinders and loading them on palates and
vehicles. There were some management personnel on site as well, the
spokesman said.
Brockelmeyer confirmed that several employees were injured and had been taken to hospitals.
The plant produces 2.3
million tanks annually, and serves all of Florida, southern Georgia and
southern Alabama, he said. It opened in 2004.
Brockelmeyer would not
speculate on the cause of the explosion and declined to comment on the
fire chief's statement that equipment failure and human error likely
caused the incident.
"The fact that there are
no fatalities is a blessing," said John Drury, the city administrator
of Tavares, a community of some 14,000 people about 30 miles northwest
of Orlando. "This was a big deal, and a lot of people responded
quickly."
Now, the focus shifts to what caused the blasts.
The Blue Rhino facility
refills propane tanks used in gas grills. The company's tank exchange
service allows customers to trade in an empty tank for a full one at
retail locations.
The Occupational Safety
and Health Administration fined Blue Rhino in 2011 over a "serious"
safety violation involving tools and equipment. It is not clear whether
safety violations had anything to do with the fire.
According to
Brockelmeyer, the 2011 OSHA violation was due to an air nozzle at the
facility that had a missing component. He did not give CNN any further
information about the component or what it does.
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