Ohio Plant Explosion Forces Evacuation

MIAMISBURG, Ohio (AP) -- An explosion at a chemical plant on Sunday injured a worker, blew off part of the plant roof and sent people scrambling for safety from falling debris.

The blast happened as firefighters and six employees at the Isotec plant worked to contain a nitric oxide leak. No one else was in the plant at the time.

About 2,000 people living within a mile of the plant in the Dayton suburb were evacuated as a precaution against a possible second explosion, Miami Township fire Chief David Fulmer said. Other chemicals were stored in the area where the explosion happened, including a large tank of carbon monoxide, he said.

Investigators had not determined the cause of the leak or the explosion, Fulmer said.

Fulmer said the plant was heavily damaged, and a witness said the explosion blew off part of the roof.

One worker was treated for a cut on the head, Fulmer said.

John DiPietro, spokesman for Miami Township police, was standing near the plant entrance when the explosion knocked him into a truck and the area was pelted with pieces of concrete and metal.

``I've never been this scared in my life,'' he said.

The plant is owned by Simga-Aldrich Corp. in St. Louis, which supplies chemicals to research laboratories. A spill of nitric oxide at the plant in 1998 forced an evacuation of a golf course and about 50 residents.