Fire officials are blaming a chemical reaction for an explosion at a Chicago food manufacturing plant that left two workers injured — one seriously.
Fire officials are blaming a chemical reaction for an explosion at a Chicago food manufacturing plant that left two workers injured — one seriously. Deputy Fire Chief Gene Ryan says the reaction caused a partial collapse of the one-story Columbus Foods plant. He says the plant makes biodiesel and other products. According to state records, Columbus Foods specializes in cooking oils. The explosion at about 9 a.m. Friday sent bricks and other debris hundreds of feet in the air. Authorities say the other nine employees at the scene appear to be accounted for and uninjured. Ryan says hazardous materials teams have deemed the building safe after testing the air, the ground and inside the sewer. ______ In photo: Chicago firefighters search an area outside a factory where an explosion injured two people Friday, July 17, 2009, on Chicago’s West Side. Fire officials are blaming a chemical reaction for the explosion that caused a partial collapse of the one-story Columbus Foods plant. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green) Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.