Lightning sparks fire at Pennsylvania coatings plant of Dow Chemical
5/16/2012 12:00:00 AM
Dow Chemical said an early Wednesday lightning strike hit two storage tanks holding ethyl acetate and butyl acetate at its Bristol coatings plant near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The lightning strike led to a fire, which was safely extinguished by a combination of on-site emergency response along with local area fire companies.
"Material that escaped the tanks is contained in surround dikes with no anticipated impact to the community," Dow said in a statement.
The fire broke out at 3:35 a.m. local time at the Bristol plant. Employees at the site were evacuated and none were injured, Dow said.
However, a member of the Bristol fire department suffered a heart attack and died shortly afterwards, according to media reports.
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