Offering frequent news and analysis from the majestic Evergreen State and beyond, The Cascadia Advocate is the Northwest Progressive Institute's unconventional perspective on world, national, and local politics.

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Explosion hits Atlas Foundry

Seattle media outlets are reporting that a powerful explosion hit the Atlas Foundry in Tacoma less than a hour ago. According to the city's fire department, it sent "flames and a mushroom cloud of smoke into the air":
The cause is not yet known.

The incident has triggered several road closures in the area. The southbound lanes of Interstate 5 are closed, just north of the exit to westbound State Route 16. Northbound I-5 traffic is stopped at 38th Street and eastbound SR 16 traffic is stopped at Union Avenue.
Hopefully no one is badly hurt.

Comments:

Blogger Tahoma Activist said...

Hey gang - Tahoma Activist here. I was delivering mail at the time of the blast about a mile and a half away. It sounded like thunder, but when dogs started barking and a fire truck rolled by, I knew it had to be something else.

A customer came out a bit later and told me it was Atlas Foundry, and that no one was reported killed yet. Thank God the driver of the propane truck is still alive at this point. Hopefully he makes it. Oddly, the timeline over at KOMO TV makes it seem like he wasn't located until two or three hours after the blast.

What folks may not hear about Atlas is that they broke their union a few years ago. I am willing to bet that this wouldn't have happened if a union foreman had been overseeing the filling of the tank. It looks as if the driver of the trank, a contract employee, let some propane seep into the ground, which was then ignited by nearby welding. I really doubt that a union would have allowed welding to go on anywhere near an unsecured propane tank.

I will report back if I hear any other interesting news.

October 7, 2007 5:17 PM  

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