Eight Hurt in Chicago Water Plant Blast

Aug. 30 -- At least eight people were injured when an explosion caused the roof to collapse at the Calumet Water Reclamation Plant on the Far South Side Wednesday morning, according to Chicago police.

At least two of the injured were reported trapped after the explosion around 11 a.m. at the plant at 400 E. 130th Street near the Little Calumet River, police said. As of noon, firefighters could be seen still searching through the rubble.

All of the injured were listed in serious-to-critical condition, according to Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Merritt. Two were taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, three to the University of Chicago Medical Center, one to Stroger Hospital and two to Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

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A section of roof of a one-story brick building collapsed from the explosion, Merritt said. “There’s rubble and bricks, but the building is still standing. Certain sections are collapsed.”

The fire department asked television stations to keep their helicopters away from the scene because their noise was making it hard for firefighters to hear anyone still trapped.

Gina Ruiz was frantic after she received a call from her husband Bill, a pipefitter who had been working inside a sludge concentration building under contract with the MWRD.

In a garbled message, her husband said there had been an explosion there and that numerous co-workers, including his partner, were trapped inside.

She left her job in south suburban Matteson and cried as her mother drove her to the scene across from the Altgeld Gardens housing complex. Soon after arriving, Ruiz learned her husband had been battered by falling pieces of the roof but was OK.

"He just said there were a lot of guys trapped inside," she told reporters outside the building as she waited for his ambulance to take him to Northwestern.

Ruiz told his wife the explosion sounded as if it came from below ground, leading workers to speculate that it occurred in the sewer pipes underneath the building.

"He said (the explosion) blew the roof off and (it) came back down," she said.

Ruiz initially ran with the explosion, but tried to get back when he realized his partner was partially lodged under fallen concrete.

The partner was saved, but Gina Ruiz said her husband said others remained trapped inside.

Lamar Herron said he was visiting a friend at the Altgeld Gardens housing project when he heard a massive boom.

As he and the friend started toward the source of the noise, Herron said. "You could see the big black smoke that was over there," he said, pointing toward the section of the plant where the explosion was believed to have occurred.

Herron said he and the friend got in a car and followed first responders to the scene and watched as the relatives of some workers tried to get inside.

The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, which runs the plant, released a statement saying “there has been an explosion in the sludge concentration building at the Calumet Water Reclamation Plant. There are injuries. Emergency crews are on the scene. We have no additional informational at this time."

An emergency medical services Plan 1 was called, sending at least five ambulances to the scene. A 2-11 fire alarm was also called, sending extra equipment.

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