Coal plant explosion sends 6 to hospital

February 4, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — A silo at a Milwaukee-area coal plant erupted in a fiery explosion Tuesday morning, sending six workers with burns to a hospital, authorities said.

The blast occurred in a dust collector of the We Energies plant in Oak Creek, utility spokesman Barry McNulty said. The dust collector is a silo where residual coal dust is collected for eventual burning.

The injured were contracted workers who were repairing pipes in the dust collector, he said. Investigators have not yet determined a cause.

A 22-year-old man with serious injuries needed a tube to help him breathe and was being moved to a hospital for treatment, Dr. Tom Schneider said.

Five other men had minor smoke inhalation and burns, the doctor said. One would need skin grafts; he and two others were in fair condition and two were treated and released, Schneider said.

The blast sparked “a great deal of fire” in the silo and took about an hour to control, Oak Creek Fire Chief Tom Rosandich said.

The plant, located along Lake Michigan, burns 5,000 to 10,000 tons of coal per day. Oak Creek is about 20 miles south of Milwaukee.

About 230 employees work at the plant, McNulty said. Several thousand construction employees are also at the plant, working on an expansion project that began in 2005, he said.