SMITH TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Four people were taken to a hospital after an explosion at a plant in Washington County.
Click here for photos from the scene.
Dispatchers said crews were called to the 10 block of Langeloth Plant Road in Smith Township at 6:15 p.m. on Thursday.
Smith Township officials confirmed that there was an explosion at the Langeloth Metallurgical Plant.
Smith Township Fire Chief Brandon Kriznik said the explosion happened while a tanker was trying to transport chemicals.
The injured included the truck driver and three plant employees.
Smith Township officials said there is no immediate threat to the public.
Firefighters said all chemicals are contained and that nothing dangerous was released into the air. The spill was contained rather quickly.
The DEP and EPA have been called to investigate the situation.
The plant is currently shut down for the time being.
The blast was heard for miles around. Neighbors in the shadow of the plant were shaken.
“I heard a woosh and a boom! It lifted everything up. Pictures came off the walls, scared the hell out of my kids,” Travis King said. He lives just hundreds of feet from the plant.
“A minute or so after the explosion, I seen a bunch, there’s usually a little vapor coming out, but there was a lot. You never see that much smoke coming out of the stack,” he said.
There was an even more dramatic scene across the street at his neighbor Hank’s house.
“We hear this big boom. The ceiling just automatically comes down. Right away [my wife] said ‘what the heck happened?’” Hank Massengill said.
The damage was obvious. Tiles from his drop ceiling were on the floor.
“We gotta get some structural engineers in here to see if we have any structural damage.”
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