Explosions in Tulsa

KRMG internet stream | 8/18/03 | B.O. Plenty

[RonF]

Many medical Gases are radioactive.

Say what? Name a few. There are some radioactive substances used in medicine, but I don't know of any gases among them.

[HairOfTheDog]

Thank you very much - that is the biggest concern I had was for my friend!

[wolficatZ]

all employees accounted for that;'s good news so far

[Judith Anne]

Didn't Airgas have a similar fire like about a month ago? I thought I remembered reading an article here...

[CedarDave]

Suggest you add to "Breaking News" category; the appropriate word to enter is:

breaking

[HiJinx]

On the 6:00 news of Tulsa News 2:

No reported injuries and all employees accounted for.

3/4 mile radius circle around plant being evacuated.

[michigander]

8/18/03 5:56:00 PM

Gas distributor explodes in giant fireball

By CLAYTON BELLAMY

Associated Press Writer

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- A specialty gas distributor burst into flames in a series of explosions Monday that triggered nearby house fires and prompted evacuations.

There were no immediate reports of injuries, but fire Capt. Hubert Rouse said officials were still trying to account for all employees of Airgas Inc.

"Our main concern right now is to make sure anyone who is working there has been accounted for,'' Rouse said. The company, which distributes specialty, medical and industrial gases, exploded just before 4:30 p.m. near Interstate 244. It burst into flames in a series of violent explosions.

A roiling black cloud of smoke poured from the burning facility. Several nearby houses and businesses also were on fire, Rouse said.

With cylinders of gas continuing to explode as the fire burned, firefighters did not immediately attack the blaze. Rouse said he did not know exactly what gases were burning.

Bystanders and residents in a 1-mile area were evacuated and I-244 was shut down in both directions.

---

Didn't Airgas have a similar fire like about a month ago?

---

8/18/03 5:56:00 PM

Explosions Cause Evacuations Near Downtown

UPDATED - Monday August 18, 2003 6:48pm

SNIP

This isn't the first explosion at an Airgas facility. Just last month, a similar series of explosions rocked a Sacramento Airgas industrial plant. At the height of that fire, propane tanks were blown more than a quarter mile away from the facility. The damage estimates from that blaze topped two million dollars.

/SNIP

[HiJinx]

Finally putting water on the flames, from MSNBC streaming video via Tulsa News 2

[Judith Anne]

Thanks, I thought so...I really appreciate the confirmation.

[Judith Anne]

For some reason, this is setting off my "coincidence? or terrorism?" detector.

[Shermy]

July 20 article

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ibsys/20030721/lo_kcra/1703967

Explosion Rocks Sacramento Gas Facility
Sun Jul 20,11:14 PM ET

Black smoked filled the skies over Sacramento Friday after an explosion rocked a gas facility.

The explosion happened at Airgas -- a distributor of industrial, medical and specialty gases, according to the company's Web site -- at around 4:30 p.m., just southwest of Del Paso Boulevard on Kathleen Avenue.

Acetylene tanks and cylinders were blown across the area, sparking fires around the blaze. A facility spokesman said that the only gas that ignited was propane and propylene.

An Airgas employ told KCRA that before the major explosions, he saw a fire underneath a trailer at the facility.

Sacramento Metro Fire Department spokesman Dave Whitt said peripheral roadways had to be closed down and some homes had to be evacuated because of the four-alarm fire.

...Firefighters had to keep their distance while fighting the blaze because of a concern over more explosions. Water was poured on to the hundreds of tanks that could be seen througout the gas complex. Whitt said firefighters put 500 to 1,000 gallons of water per minute on the fire.
...

[Eaker]

They reported that shrapnel like material is being thrown on the Internet which is not right next to the fire when the explosions occur.

So THAT is what just flew out of my monitor!!!!!!!!

;<)

[HiJinx]

There is Oxygen, Acetylene, Nitrogen, Argon, and CO2 in the area affected by the fire per the president of the local plant.

Fire probably started in the O2/Acetylene storage facility.

[Shermy]

For some reason, this is setting off my "coincidence? or terrorism?" detector.<P. The insurer's detectors will be very finely tuned.

[HiJinx]

Classes postponed at OSU-Tulsa...

[michigander]

So THAT is what just flew out of my monitor!!!!!!!!

I hate it when that happens!

[CedarDave]

Don't have a clue as to how I did it, but I have the fire scanner on my left channel and the MSNBC feed on the road; just happened that way!

[Phsstpok]

Someones still blewed up real good...

George Takei, right?

[Eaker]

As it was, the bourbon got into a creek, and we had a minor fish kill downstream,

Nuthin' I hate more than a bunch of bar fighten' drunk fish!

[Publius6961]

Didn't Airgas have a similar fire like about a month ago? I thought I remembered reading an article here...

Yes in Sacramento, CA about 15 miles north of where I am sitting.
Coincidence? I don't think so.

I thought that one would be a one time thing too: "return" an "empty" gas cylinder preloaded with explosives and timer.