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PROMINTORY, Box Elder County — A man was injured in an small explosion at Autoliv Thursday, officials said.
Chief Deputy Dale F. Ward with the Box Elder County Police Department said a man about 50 years old sustained burns to his head and was taken to a local hospital via Life Flight to McKay Dee Hospital in Ogden.
Two men were inside a building near 16700 N. Highway 83 that has an incinerator in it to dispose of extra airbag materials at about 4:15 p.m., Ward said.
As the men were removing one completed batch and getting ready to put in another batch, the explosion occurred. The second man was not injured, Ward said.
Fire personnel are containing the fire and allowing it to burn out because it is too unsafe to enter the building, West said. None of the surrounding facilities are threatened at this point.
Witness Marty Simonich said he heard the explosion, turned around and the whole mountain looked like it was on fire before it turned to deep black smoke.
"It wasn't a shock wave, but it was enough to alert us to look to the right," Simonich said. "There's a lot of rocket test out here and small explosion going on all the time out here because of the plant that's out here."
Simonich believes there is not a possibility of others getting injured because the area is isolated between two canyons.
KSL pilot reporter Ben Tidswell said there is extensive damage to the building, and emergency personnel backed away about a quarter mile while it was burning.
Autoliv is a manufacturing plant that produces gas generant used to inflate airbags.
More information will be posted as it becomes available.
Contributing: Andrew Adams
