WOODS CROSS, Utah (ABC 4 News) - Four workers were critically injured in an explosion and fire Monday evening at the Silver Eagle Oil Refinery in South Davis County. The danger of further explosions triggered the evacuation of homes within a 1/2 mile radius of the refinery. Authorities also shut down the U.T.A.'s FrontRunner commuter train for about an hour. The tracks for FrontRunner pass just east of the Silver Eagle Refinery.
Two of the injured workers were flown by helicopter to the University Hospital burn unit. Two others were taken by ambulance to the same hospital. All had 2nd and 3rd degree burns on their faces and upper bodies. They also suffered varying degrees of inhalation burns. Late Monday night the hospital updated their condition. One man remains in "critical but stable" condition, another two are "serious" and one was upgraded to "fair".
Fire crews from the South Davis Metro Fire Department as well as the fire departments from neighboring refineries worked through the night to put out the fire burning inside the 42,000 gallon tank. A refinery worker told ABC 4 that the tank was not full, but had about "16 feet" of gasoline in it. The visible evidence of the fire burning inside were the flames shooting out of the vents in the top of the tank.
At first firefighters poured water on the tank to keep it from overheating. Then they developed a plan to both pump large amounts of foam into the gasoline while applying more foam to the vents. The idea was to smother the fire.
Home owners east of the refinery and within a half-mile radius were asked to evacuate as crews worked to bring the fire under control. Davis County Search and Rescue crews were dispatched to help with evacuations. Dispathers also put out the word using reverse 9-1-1.
The same refinery had an explosion with burn injuries in June of 2007.
The American Red Cross Greater Salt Lake Area Chapter hosted an evacuation center at Woods Cross High School, 600 West 2200 South. Late Monday evening the Red Cross reported that most of the evacuees were back at home.
The Red Cross provided a gathering place with information on the evacuation and provided food donated by Smith's Marketplace for the 75-80 people affected by the evacuation.
To donate or volunteer for Red Cross, go to
www.utahredcross.org or call 801.323.7000.
