5 HURT IN PLANT BLAST; POPLR BLUFF'S ESSEX SPECIALTY TEMPORARILY CLOSES

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- An explosion at a Poplar Bluff factory blackened the skies with thick smoke and sent five employees to the hospital with burns, two of them so severely injured they immediately were airlifted to a St. Louis burn unit.

The blast at Essex Specialty Products, which employs 25 and produces glass bonding material, shook homes and businesses in and around the Poplar Bluff Industrial Park at about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The industrial park is south of U.S. 67 and close to residential neighborhoods. Judy Aldridge, 54, lives a quarter-mile from the plant and said she was babysitting at her home when she heard the blast.

"It was vibrating the whole trailer," she said. "Then we could see black smoke. It could be my imagination because I know it's out there, but I can smell oil now."

Investigators believe an oil heater exploded, but Poplar Bluff fire chief Randy Hastings said the definite cause will be determined later. The Dow Chemical Co., which owns the plant through its Dow Automotive division, will handle the full investigation. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources is involved as well.

A fire from the explosion was contained to one small room and extinguished quickly.

Bill McShane, a spokesman for St. John's Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis, said four victims -- Micky Kovach, David Lucas, Jerry Thompson and Steve Waite -- were in satisfactory condition, and one, Jerry Tibbs, remained in serious condition. All are Essex employees.

Hastings and law enforcement agents initially wanted to evacuate people within a half-mile radius of the plant but scaled that back to an eighth of a mile. He said various types of explosive and flammable chemicals inside Essex made the situation potentially deadly. They include toluene, liquid nitrogen and diphenylmethane.

"This had the biggest potential for disaster I've seen since I've been with the department," said Hastings, a 26-year veteran of Poplar Bluff firefighting. "But once we got all the smoke out and saw the interior damage, I believe those folks will be back to work in short order. There's just a lot of soot over everything."

Plant manager John Cashman declined to answer questions about the explosion and fire, saying Dow was issuing a media release.

Other industries in the park include Briggs & Stratton and Gates Rubber Co. They were not damaged, Hastings said.