April 30--Two of the three BTU employees injured in a fire at a power plant in Bryan Tuesday have been treated and released from the hospital.
James Yendrey and Maurice Carlson were taken to St. Joseph hospital following the incident and released soon after. A third employee with serious injuries was flown to Memorial Hermann in Houston. His name and condition have not been released.
Firefighters were called to the Atkins plant, near Finfeather Lake, just before 2 p.m. for reports of a generator fire.
Deputy Fire Marshal William Bouse said there was an explosion as crews turned on the generator, but an investigation lasting several days will confirm the cause of the fire.
Employees had been performing routine maintenance at Unit No. 7 as they do every few years, BTU Group Manager David Werley said.
He estimated a dozen people were around the property at the time of the fire but said the three injured were the only ones near the fire.
The Atkins plant is not typically staffed because it's used as a backup for "peaking power," Werley said.
"BTU has an excellent safety record, and this is one of those things that happens very, very rarely at a utility," Werley said. "We maintain a safe working environment, so this is one of those things that's just hard on everybody when it happens because you don't expect these kinds of injuries."
Four engines, a ladder truck and an ambulance were initially dispatched to the fire, which was put out in minutes, Fire Marshal Marc McFeron said.
"It's not really a severe fire because of the size," McFeron said. "It's really a small fire, but because of the significance of the injuries, that makes it a very large incident."
Yendrey, a production support operator, has worked for BTU for 28 years. Carlson joined BTU three-and-a-half years ago and works as an electrical and instrumentation tech.
The Atkins power plant was not supplying power to BTU customers as it was down for maintenance at the time of the fire. The power outage across much of College Station around 5 p.m. Tuesday was not related to the Atkins fire, according to the city of Bryan.
Copyright 2014 - The Eagle, Bryan, Texas
