Crews respond to fire, explosion at Butler County plant

PETROLIA, Pa. — Emergency crews were called Thursday afternoon for a fire and explosion at an industrial plant in Petrolia, Butler County.

The incident was reported just before 1:30 p.m. at the Sonneborn Plant, prompting the response of dozens of firefighters.%

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People reported feeling the explosion from miles away.

“My sister lives in East Brady, and its 10 miles from here. My dad lives in Bruin, and he said it shook his house,” Raymond Jones, who lives across the street, said. “I thought it was a truck hitting my building. I looked out my window. There were flames shooting 40 feet in the air.”

Officials said the explosion happened in a portion of a plant where chemicals used to make candle wax and Vaseline are processed.

“All we know is whatever it was, it made an extremely loud noise and rocked the building, and we all went into emergency mode,” Anita Oroczco, with human resources, said.

No one was hurt, and the all-clear was given about an hour after the explosion.

The cause of the explosion is under investigation.

Cox Media Group