Blasts rock Pa. welding company, force evacuations

9/01/2010 01:10:09 PM

COLLINGDALE, Pa. – A county emergency official says an explosion at a Philadelphia-area welding supply company injured three people.

Delaware County Emergency Services Director Ed Truitt says officials on the scene reported the civilians were transported to hospitals with burns. Their conditions aren't available.

The explosion happened Wednesday afternoon at Scully Welding Supply in Collingdale.

Neighbors reported hearing a series of explosions that rattled houses and sent debris flying. Firefighters were still pumping water onto the fire two hours after the first explosion.

Truitt says authorities are evacuating about a quarter-mile in all directions for safety reasons. He says one firefighter is being treated for heat-related issues, as temperatures climbed into the 90s.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

COLLINGDALE, Pa. — A series of explosions at a welding supply company in suburban Philadelphia sent thick black smoke billowing over the area and forced evacuations Wednesday.

The explosions at Scully Welding Supply in Collingdale happened around 1 p.m. in an industrial area about seven miles southwest of Philadelphia, said Delaware County Emergency Services Director Ed Truitt. No injuries were immediately reported and no additional medical services have been requested at the scene.

Tammy Scanlon, 38, who lives a few hundred yards across the railroad tracks from Scully's Propane, heard the explosions go on for about 30 minutes.

"It sounded like a car backfired the first time. It got worse," she said. "You could feel the dishes shaking in my house. It was just one after another."

Emergency officials are waiting for company officials to provide a headcount of who was in the building, Truitt said. A call to Scully Welding Supply rang unanswered.

Broadcast footage shows firefighters dousing flames between a pair of large tanks and debris littering the area between the tanks and nearby buildings. Black smoke poured from the blazes as firefighters shot water at flames from afar.

Kimberly Bench, 47, said she felt the air suck in and out of her house and looked up to see a big piece of metal hurtling skyward during the blasts.

"We heard a big explosion. Our house rattled," she said.

Butch Cook, who manages a nearby a sandwich shop, said he heard a series of explosions, each one followed by flames, for about 20 minutes.

"You would hear a bang, and then the flames would be there," the 54-year-old Cook said.

Truitt said a hazardous materials team was dispatched to the scene and police put out a countywide call for assistance to help with evacuations and crowd control. Buildings a quarter-mile in all directions were being evacuated, he said.

Bernice Ho, a spokeswoman for nearby Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital, said paramedics have been dispatched, but the hospital has heard no word about injuries.