Two missing, 21 hurt in NC Slim Jim plant blast

Source: Associated Press

GARNER, N.C. – Two people were missing and 21 injured, four critically, after an explosion at a Slim Jim meat products plant in North Carolina, officials said Tuesday. Jeffrey Hammerstein, district chief with Wake County Emergency Medical Services, said a third person initially reported missing was found and taken to the hospital. Authorities were searching for two others.

"We don't know if they're in the building or not, but we're going to go look for them," Hammerstein said.

Chris Woods, a worker at the facility, said he started running after feeling an explosion around 11 a.m.

"I was picking up a piece of meat off the line and I felt it, the percussion in my chest," Woods said. "One of the guys I was working with got blown back, he flew backwards."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090609/ap_on_re_us/us_nc_building_collapse

God damn guvermint stepped in and made 'em all wishy washy...

WHAT!?

This is a terrible story, and I'm not trying to be funny. I just don't understand what this factory does...The AP says an explosion occurred. What? Why? Are we talking massive ovens here? I've seen Slim Jims, never eaten one (makes me un-American I know...) I've always assumed they are a kind of rock hard salami.... ..Are they compressed and cooked in some kind of complicated machine? Did the machine explode? ConAgra? Really...they do Hebrew National hot dogs? Huh? You mean "Hebrew National" isn't some nice little Kosher operation somewhere in Queens? The world is getting away from me, I'm afraid. Could somebody explain And let me repeat, this is a horrible story...I pray for anybody who's missing...

Seriesly, hope they find the other two. :scared:

Source: UPI.com

GARNER, N.C., June 9 (UPI) -- A ConAgra plant in Garner, N.C., collapsed Tuesday following an explosion, exposing employees to toxic fumes from ammonia leaks, officials said.

-snip-

The 50,000-square-foot plant was formerly owned by GoodMark Foods and is known for making Slim Jim beef jerky products, Raleigh television station WRAL reported.

-snip-

The plant's roof had several holes and parked cars were smashed by the front of the building, which authorities said was blown outward, the station said.



Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/06/09/Building-collapses-at-North-Carolina-plant/UPI-76391244565164/

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WRAL TV is reporting around 19 injured. Some are missing.

No one knows yet what caused the explosion.

GARNER, N.C. - Three people were reported missing and 20 injured Tuesday after an explosion ripped through a food processing plant.

The building in Garner, just south of the Raleigh, partially collapsed after the blast, and there were reports of an ammonia leak.

Rescue officials said they did not know the cause of the blast.

Emergency medical official Jeffrey Hammerstein says 20 people were taken to area hospitals and five were tagged as priority patients with serious conditions. Garner Mayor Ronnie Williams says injuries ranged from burns to smoke inhalation.

Hammerstein says officials are searching for three people missing from the site. He says it wasn't clear whether they were inside during the explosion.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31189048/

I just thought they were Bubba chow. I didn't know they were that dangerous to handle.

Ugh.

I'm just going from my own experience and it's effect on my...um...digestion system.

I'm just sayin'.

They made a HUGE explosion with non-dairy creamer - essentially, powdered fat.

Seven people airlifted to WakeMed in Raleigh first, then moved to UNC b/c they have state of the art burn unit. All have serious burns, three of those patients are critical. Awful.

:(

For instance, this is the aftermath of a grain elevator explosion in Galena Park, Texas...

Maybe better I do not know.

that were made prior to the freon systems now in use.
I don't know how old that building is, though I have heard of some newer very large coolant systems that were built later that still used the ammonia as it was less expensive than freon.

By Duane Stanford and Brian K. Sullivan

June 9 (Bloomberg) -- A roof collapse at a ConAgra Foods Inc. plant has injured 32 workers and left three others missing, the company said.

An explosion at the factory in Garner, North Carolina, which makes Slim Jim meat snacks, caused extensive damage to the roof, Garner Police Sergeant Joe Binns said today in an interview. No deaths have been reported and hazardous-material teams were on the scene, Binns said.

Search-and-rescue teams were looking for the missing workers hours after the 11:30 a.m. incident, about seven miles from Raleigh, Teresa Paulsen, a spokeswoman for ConAgra, said in a telephone interview. Officials previously said only two people were still missing ...

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board, a Washington-based agency charged with investigating industrial chemical accidents, has sent a team to the site, it said in an e-mailed statement. The board makes safety recommendations to plants, industry organizations, labor groups and regulatory agencies and doesn’t have authority to issue citations or levy fines, it said ...

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=amcONyXB4aC8