Static
electricity at fault, says fire marshall
UPDATE
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here to read original story
Paraphrased by:
Steve Waldrop
February 13, 2004
Thomasville Pa.-- The Jackson Township fire marshall said the January
29 explosion that injured two workers at a York County plant that refurbishes
propane tanks for gas grills was caused by two leaking cylinders and
a spark of static electricity.
Fire marshall Bruce Yingling said gas from the leaking tanks built up
in the back of the box trailer loaded the night before the blast. He
said something sparked the fumes as two Aero Energy workers stood in
back of the open trailer.
Yingling believes static electricity rather than a ringing cellular
phone ignited the blast, since static electricity builds up more often
when the air is dry and the temperature is cold. Three propane cylinders
that had been in the trailer were found to be empty, but Yingling said
he believes one of the three was damaged in the explosion and had not
been leaking.
A
spokesman for Aero Energy said that one of the injured workers has returned
to work and the other will return in a few weeks after recovering from
a broken wrist.
