Milwaukee – An explosion that may have started in a large propane tank destroyed an industrial warehouse near downtown Milwaukee this morning, killing three people and injuring 37 more, officials said.
An undetermined number of workers were missing.
The explosion at 8:15 a.m. ignited a fire at the Falk Corp.
building in a complex near the Potawatomi casino about a half mile from Miller Park, where the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team plays, fire Chief William Wendtland said.
The blast flipped cars, spewed debris into the air and prompted the evacuation of dozens of workers at the plant where large industrial gears and couplings are made. Fire spread through rubble covering several blocks.
Hazardous materials crews and as many as 120 firefighters and paramedics responded to the fire, which was largely extinguished nearly three hours later, Wendtland said.
“It sounded like when I was in Vietnam, incoming mortar rounds,” said worker David L. Mays, 61, who said the impact knocked him down and flipped over his car, destroying it.
“But I’m OK,” Mays said as a single tear rolled down his cheek.
Hospitals throughout Milwaukee took in the injured, some seriously hurt. Three people died, 37 were injured and an undetermined number of workers were missing, Mayor Tom Barrett said at an afternoon news conference.
Mays said the company began to evacuate workers earlier today after a leak occurred in one of six large propane tanks behind a building workers call the annex. He said he and others were outside when one of the tanks exploded.
Falk employs about 700 people at its Milwaukee headquarters and plant, spokeswoman Linda Mayor said. She did not know how many people were in the plant at the time of the blast.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration also sent a team to investigate the explosion, said George Yoksas, director of OSHA’s Milwaukee office.
The explosion could be felt at a firehouse about a mile and a half away, fire Lt. Brian O’Connor said. It destroyed Falk’s wood frame warehouse and numerous cars and damaged several other buildings in the complex, he said.
Construction crews working on buildings in the surrounding area were sent home by their companies because of concern about smoke from the spreading fire.
Construction worker Jack Obarski, 46, of Milwaukee, said he was working when he heard a loud boom and saw smoke hundreds of feet in the air.
“Stuff was just flying up in the air,” Obarski said as he headed home.
