An equipment
failure is being blamed for an explosion on Thursday at ArcelorMittal’s
Blast Furnace D.
No one was injured
in the explosion, the resulting fire was successfully contained and
extinguished, and the blast furnace was taken safely offline, ArcelorMittal
spokesman William Steers said.
Steers attributed
the explosion to the failure of a stove dome. A video posted to social media
showed the mill being showered in chunks of burning hot white refractory,
the interior lining of the blast furnace shell which protects it from
super-heated temperatures.
Both the Burns
Harbor and Porter fire departments responded to the scene to assist
ArcelorMittal’s contracted fire-protection service. Allied Universal. “There
were no injuries and everybody was accounted for and made it out safely,”
BHFD Chief Bill Arney told the Chesterton Tribune. “The cause of the
fire/explosion remains under investigation.”
“There wasn’t a lot
of fire after the initial explosion,” PFD Chief Jay Craig added. “Most of
the fire was at the top of the furnace and they set up aerial for that.”