June 13--MOORE -- A fireball engulfed a vodka distillery Friday morning after the still overheated, spewing alcohol before erupting in flames.
A distiller who had been working at Twister Distillery was burned in the blast, and was being treated for his injuries on site Friday morning. Twister and another local distiller, Scissortail Distillery, are both in an industrial park in the 2300 block of N Moore Avenue.
Twister makes a product called Success Vodka. The distiller shipped its first 100 cases of the product to local liquor stores this week. The company previously made a product called Twister Vodka.
Twister owner Alvin J. Philipose, a local chiropractor, said the blast was caused after a still overheated.
"It was an ethanol flash, the still overheated and the alcohol in the are caught fire," he said minutes after the blast, which sent white smoke billowing throughout the industrial park.
Several Moore Fire Department units and Moore police responded to the explosion, which occurred around 10 a.m. Friday.
Copyright 2014 - The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City
