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TOOELE COUNTY — Two workers received serious burns from an explosion at an industrial plant Friday morning.
The explosion happened around 4 a.m. at U.S. Magnesium's Rowley plant at12819 N. Skull Valley Road during the "relatively complex chemical and metallurgical process" of restarting a piece of machinery, Tom Tripp, technical services manager for U.S. Magnesium Services, said.
After the blast, workers lifted the lid to a brick-lined furnace, releasing hot gas which burned one supervisor and one production operator. Tripp did not know the extent of the injuries, but said the burns appeared to be serious.
Immediate medical attention from in-house emergency management technicians "most definitely" saved the lives of the burn victims, Tooele County emergency manager Bucky Whitehouse said. The plant's remote location puts workers 20 to 30 minutes away from other medical services.
Two medical helicopters took the injured men to area hospitals.
Explosions at the plant are rare, according to Tripp. Despite working with molten metals, salt, chlorine gas and heavy equipment, the plant has a "relatively good safety record," Tripp said.
"We're certainly disappointed, and we're going to work to rectify this," he said.
U.S. Magnesium officials are unsure what caused the explosion and plan to investigate the incident internally and with officials from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The explosion was not in a main production area, so the plant remained operating Friday morning.
More information will be provided as it becomes available.
Contributing: Haley Smith and Andrew Adams
