COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)–Investigators looking into the explosion and fire that killed one and injured eight others delivered an update late Friday night.
The Chemical Safety Board has confirmed the following information related to Thursday’s fatal fire and explosion:
CSB Activities as of 4.9.2021:
- The CSB’s investigator-in-charge arrived in Columbus on the evening of April 8, 2021, and was at the facility before 7:30 a.m. EDT on Friday, April 9, 2021. A second CSB investigator arrived in Columbus this morning
- The CSB is coordinating its activities with OSHA.
- The CSB is moving forward with scheduling interviews with facility employees and management
- A fire and explosion occurred at approximately 12:30 a.m. EDT on Thursday, April 8, 2021.
- Yenkin-Majestic manufactures and markets industrial coatings that include acrylics, alkyds, coil and powder coatings, epoxies, primers, and urethanes.
- The incident occurred in the OPC Polymers unit at the Yenkin-Majestic facility. The company reports that it has 180 employees.
- The company reported the following casualties: 1 fatal, 5 hospitalized, and 4 non-serious injuries.
- Twenty-one employees were reported to have been in the facility at the time of the incident.
- The incident resulted in substantial property damage, more than $1 million.
- A building in the OPC Polymer unit collapsed as a result of the incident.
- Emergency responders reported that a local resident self-evacuated. No evacuation was ordered by the City of Columbus.
- Materials stored onsite include maleic anhydride, phthalic anhydride, xylene, and mineral spirits. The company has not yet provided the quantities of the material at the facility at the time of the incident.
- The OPC Polymer unit was engaged in normal operations at the time of the incident. The material being produced was manufactured in a batch process.
- The OPC Polymer unit operates 24/7 operation. The site includes an adjacent paint manufacturing unit that operates 4/10 operations.
- The facility is covered by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Process Safety Management (PSM) regulation due to the flammable liquids stored at the facility.