EDMONTON -- An explosion during morning rush hour at a plastics plant in the city's east end Friday sent nine workers to hospital and rattled the residents who live in the shadow of the facility's monster stacks.
The explosion and subsequent fire happened at the AT Plastics, located amongst oil refineries and storage tanks in Edmonton's east-end business park.
"All of a sudden I heard a big bang and the living room windows just vibrated. I thought they were going to break," said area resident Don Jarvis.
"I saw a big puff of smoke coming up over the top of the plant. We thought a bomb had gone off."
A second woman, who didn't give her name, said the blast woke her around 7:30 a.m. and she could feel the shock wave ripple through her body.
Fire department spokeswoman Nikki Booth said four of the workers sent to hospital were seriously injured and the rest suffered minor injuries. Three of the seriously injured workers were in stable condition.
"All the workers who were in that area have been accounted for," Booth said.
Once fire crews got the blaze under control, they allowed it to burn.
"There are some concerns that there is a risk of a second explosion, so they're going to let the fire burn to try to mitigate the possibility of a second explosion," said Booth.
Early reports said firefighters were concentrating their efforts on flames licking around three storage tanks. One was believed to contain ethylene, which is used in plastic-making.
Officials with Celanese Corp., the plant's owner, said there was no risk to the public.
"Celanese has halted all activity at the plant and has contained all necessary raw materials and energy sources," the Dallas-based company said in a news release.
"Based on present conditions, this incident poses no threat to the surrounding area."
A major commuter route that goes past the plant was closed and traffic was being re-routed. RCMP said the road was expected to remain closed for several hours.
AT Plastics specializes in polymers used in packaging, thermal lamination film, hot melt adhesives, some medical products and photo voltaic cells.
A massive explosion at a Toronto propane depot in August forced the evacuation of thousands of residents living nearby and left two people dead.
