A young worker remained in critical condition Monday evening after suffering serious burns in a chemical explosion at the former Bethlehem Steel plant in Sparrows Point, fire officials said.
Baltimore County firefighters responded to an explosion at what is now the Arcelor Mittal plant just after 12:30 p.m. Monday, said department spokeswoman Elise Armacost. The contractor, who was not identified, was burned by a burst of molten slag ? a 3,000-degree steel waste product ? that he dumped into a pit of water, officials said.
The victim was transported to the burn center at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center with potentially life-threatening injuries. The explosion sent slag and steam “shooting high into the air,” officials said, and debris from the blast landed on the metal roof of a nearby warehouse.
The roof melted, igniting a two-alarm fire that took an hour to control. Damage was estimated at $130,000.
John Cirri, president of the local steel union, said workers know not to mix water and slag. He speculated the victim may not have seen the water.
“An accident like that, it doesn?t happen very often,” Cirri said. “It?s real scary.”
An Arcelor Steel representative did not return a call by press time.
