Fowler Associates Labs

UPDATE

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Paraphrased by:
Steve Waldrop
February 13, 2004

Thomasville Pa.-- The Jackson Township fire marshall said the January 29 explosion that injured two workers at a York County plant that refurbishes propane tanks for gas grills was caused by two leaking cylinders and a spark of static electricity.

Fire marshall Bruce Yingling said gas from the leaking tanks built up in the back of the box trailer loaded the night before the blast. He said something sparked the fumes as two Aero Energy workers stood in back of the open trailer.

Yingling believes static electricity rather than a ringing cellular phone ignited the blast, since static electricity builds up more often when the air is dry and the temperature is cold. Three propane cylinders that had been in the trailer were found to be empty, but Yingling said he believes one of the three was damaged in the explosion and had not been leaking.

A spokesman for Aero Energy said that one of the injured workers has returned to work and the other will return in a few weeks after recovering from a broken wrist.