18 fire departments, Haz-Mat converge on scene of explosion

A neighbor said he felt two explosions and saw fire through the woods.

CHAMPION — Eighteen area fire departments and a hazardous materials response team were on the scene of an explosion and fire Monday night at the former Pacal plastics plant on Kincaid East Road.

Neighbors’ windows rattled and there was a huge fireball, a witness said.

“It’s almost in our backyard,” said Sam Amoline, 19, of 4507 Kincaid East Road N.W., who said he and his sister Elizabeth, 17, were in the house when the first blast occurred.

“I actually felt two explosions. ... It was around 4:45 — 5-ish,” he said. “I looked out our back window and I actually saw fire coming out of what looked like our woods.”

A Trumbull County 911 fire dispatcher said there are homes across the street from the building, which has been vacant for several years. There was no evacuation, and no injuries were reported, he said.

“They got it under control really fast,” Amoline noted.

This particular building was believed to be a closed warehouse, a dispatcher said. The 4445 Kincaid East address is listed as Bloom Industries.

Amoline explained that the building had changed hands recently. “That’s why I was wondering why there was a fire there. I thought nobody was in it.”

Large propane tanks and natural gas were on the site, the dispatcher said.

“There was something back there causing huge explosions. You could feel them,” Amoline said, adding he saw a fireball.

The fire was still burning late Monday evening, and fire departments intended to let it burn itself out because of hazardous materials in the building.

There were no airborne hazardous materials, and there was air monitoring going on at the site.

The state fire marshal is investigating. The Youngstown Air Reserve Base Fire Department also assisted.