6 employees injured after explosion, fire at a Nevada plant

BOULDER CITY, Nev. (AP) — Six employees were injured, including one man with serious burns, after an explosion and fire Monday at a manufacturing facility outside of Boulder City, authorities said.

City officials said the explosion occurred just before 10 a.m. at Armorock Polymer Concrete, located in a remote desert area some 7 miles (11 kilometers) southeast of Boulder City.

The resulting fire was extinguished within 90 minutes and the plant was evacuated, according to city officials.

Boulder City Deputy Fire Chief Greg Chesser said firefighters initially had to wait for a HAZMAT crew to assess the situation before they went in to knock down the fire.

“All the walls are blown out. All the windows are blown out. Even on the opposite side where the administration section is, all the ceiling is down,” he said. “It was a pretty massive explosion.”

The cause of the explosion wasn’t immediately known and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will conduct an investigation.

Chesser said work was going on at the facility at the time of the explosion that involved polymer-type chemicals.

City officials initially tweeted that seven employees at the facility were injured and transported to area hospitals, but Chesser said there were only six injuries.

Chesser said one man was “within the blast and fire area” and suffered significant burns and a second injured person had minor chemical burns.

Three other employees had minor concussive injuries due to the explosion and another had heat-related injuries, he said.

Calls to Amorock Polymer Concrete officials for comment on the explosion weren’t immediately returned Monday afternoon.