Ohio Recycling Plant Explosion Kills Two Workers

Two explosions tore through an industrial recycling facility in Toledo, Ohio, early Tuesday morning, killing two workers and triggering a large emergency response, according to fire officials.

The blasts were reported at approximately 4:50 a.m. at Brent Industries, a building that officials said contained hazardous chemicals. Fire Chief Allison Armstrong said the initial call reported an explosion and heavy fire, with people possibly trapped inside. Responding crews found part of the structure already collapsed.

Two employees — an adult male and an adult female — were found inside the building several hours later. Both had succumbed to their injuries, Armstrong said. Two or three other workers sustained minor injuries. The explosions occurred during a shift change, she added.

A nearby resident, Demetrius Langston, said he felt the blast from half a mile away. He ran outside and recorded video of a massive plume of smoke rising into the pre-dawn sky. "The shock waves came down the block," he said. "Then we all heard it again. Boom! You could feel it."

Environmental Protection Agency on-scene coordinator Jon Gulch said air monitoring around the site and the plume returned no detectable levels of hazardous constituents. Officials also checked for runoff from tanks into a ditch leading to Swan Creek and found nothing.

The fire was still burning Tuesday afternoon, Armstrong said. Investigators from the fire department and Toledo police were on scene, though no preliminary cause for the explosions has been identified.