May 14--Three people were hospitalized with burns Monday after material they were unloading at New Mexico Tech's explosives testing facility west of Socorro unexpectedly ignited, a Tech spokesman said.
Identities and conditions of the three were not immediately available Monday afternoon, said Tech spokesman Thom Guengerich, but all three suffered non-life-threatening burns.
The material ignited about 12:15 p.m. Monday as the workers were unloading the unspecified material onto a concrete pad for testing, Guengerich said.
They were preparing to conduct a "routine explosives operation" at Tech's Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center, which specializes in the research, development, testing and analysis of explosives for both corporate and government clients.
The facility's test range, which covers about 40 square miles, sits in a remote area about five miles west of M Mountain, a prominent peak on Socorro's west side.
When the material "caught fire unintentionally," Guengerich said, the three workers scrambled to a nearby bunker.
Firefighters, including an engine and crew from the New Mexico State Forestry's Socorro District, were called in to extinguish the fire, which destroyed two trucks. Although preliminary reports indicated that two buildings were damaged, Guengerich said there are no buildings in the area where the fire occurred.
The three injured workers were taken to Socorro General Hospital, Guengerich said.
One of them, who is employed by Tech, remained in Socorro General Monday night.
The other two burn victims work for a subcontractor attached to one of the center's "industrial customers" whom Guengerich declined to identify. They were airlifted to the University of New Mexico Hospital's burn unit.
The test range has been closed while Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center investigators, in conjunction with federal safety agencies, investigate the accident, Guengerich said.
Copyright 2013 - Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
