Sometime between 10:30 and 11:00pm Monday night an explosion rocked Tavares neighborhoods in Lake County, Florida. Two massive booms came from the nearby Blue Rhino Propane plant. The plant, which was built in 2004, is where retail sized, 20-gallon propane tanks are recycled and refilled.
Three workers were seriously injured and rushed to Orlando Regional Medical Center. Other employees on the 24 man second-shift were also injured, but less seriously. All employees have been accounted for and are alive at this time.
Damaged propane canisters and shrapnel from some that exploded in either the initial blasts or the subsequent conflagration have been found outside the plant’s grounds. The plant had as many as 53,000 of the 20-gallon tanks at the facility and three massive reserve tanks with 90,000 gallons of propane. None of the reserve tanks leaked or caught fire, though one did have a large black smudge on its side, assumedly where one of the exploding 20-gallon tanks hit.
The cause of the explosion is, as yet, unclear, but authorities do not believe they were the cause of an intentional act. They stated that, while the investigation is just starting, they believe that either equipment failure, or human error may be to blame. They have not made any further statements on what may have caused the incident.
If you have been injured on the job, please contact us and let us review the facts of your case.
Wooten Kimbrough, P.A. Orlando Personal Injury Attorneys