Date: April 8, 2021
Location: Columbus, Ohio (USA)
Address: 970 Woodland Avenue, 43219
Type: Potential Dust Explosion
Fuel: Unknown
Industry: Paint Manufacturing
Equipment: Unknown
Company: Yenkin-Majestic Paint
Database Incidents: None Recorded
Loss: One Dead, Nine Injured
Capital Cost: Unknown
Status: Open
Confirmation: Unconfirmed
Company Description:
According to its website, Yenkin-Majestic Paint is a family-owned business that makes paints, resins and other coatings. It was established in 1920, is located in Columbus, Ohio and has three divisions: Majic Paints, YM Industrial Coatings and OPC Polymers.
Incident Description:
On April 8, 2021, AZCentral reported an explosion and fire at a paint manufacturer in Columbus, Ohio.
According to NBC News, around 40 employees were working just after midnight when the explosion occurred in one of five buildings on the manufacturer’s site.
Most of them were able to evacuate when firefighters arrived, but two were trapped and had to be rescued. They were taken to the hospital with critical injuries, along with five others who were later listed as stable.
One 44-year-old employee was reported missing, but his body was discovered around five hours after the fire, which burned for around 12 hours and required 350,000 gallons of water to extinguish.
The company confirmed that it was working with firefighters and workplace safety investigators to determine the cause of the explosion and fire. It also hired environmental contractors to ensure that runoff from the firefighting efforts was contained and removed.
Research Update
On July 2, 2021, ABC 6 reported that 22 materials were deemed potentially involved. The Ohio EPA issued a 30-day extension to the company for the accumulation of hazardous waste.
On August 17, 2021, NBC4 reported that the explosion and fire started in the paint resin plant on the property and that because a safe cleanup and evacuation process is slow, the equipment at the center of the accident had not been reached yet. The company CEO told FOX 28 that the explosion happened when something went wrong with a batch of paint resin, causing vapours to be released.
Sources:
AZCentral
NBC News
ABC 6
NBC4
FOX 28
CSB Report (April 9)
CSB Report (April 13)
CSB Accident Overview
