Authorities say a torch sparked an explosion and fire at an Evansville business Tuesday afternoon. WNIN’s John Gibson has the update:
EFD Deputy Chief Kim Garrett says the blast at 306 N. 7th Ave was caused by a cutting torch being used near combustible liquids.
Authorities say a petroleum truck inside the Heritage Petroleum building exploded, injuring a nearby employee of W.O.C Maintenance.
The worker was taken to a hospital.
Other employees safely evacuated the building.
Evansville firefighters tapped out the fire in less than 45 minutes.
Garrett says runoff of water used to extinguish the fire mixed with the onsite petroleum products.
She says IDEM, the city’s Storm Water Management, and a local environmental remediation company were called to help with mitigation and containment.