CSB Investigative Team Heading to Dallas Explosion Site
An investigative team from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board is deploying to the site of this morning's serious explosions and fire at the Southwest Industrial Gases gas cylinder distribution facility in Dallas. The explosions and fire were reported to cause serious injuries and to propel debris off site, forcing an evacuation and the closure of major interstate highways.
The team of five investigators, including Supervisory Investigator Robert Hall, P.E., and Investigations Manager Stephen Selk, P.E., is expected to arrive in Dallas later today. A CSB board member will be joining the team.
In 2006, the CSB completed an investigation of a gas cylinder distribution facility fire that occurred June 24, 2005, in downtown St. Louis at a Praxair facility, which resulted in offsite damage due to rocketing gas cylinders. The investigation identified three other serious gas cylinder distribution facility fires in California, Oklahoma, and Arizona from 1997 to 2005.
Further information, including a safety bulletin and safety video, can be found under "Completed Investigations" on the CSB Web site, CSB.gov, by clicking on the link for the Praxair Flammable Gas Cylinder Fire, St. Louis, Missouri.