PERRY TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Three employees of TimkenSteel Faircrest Plant were taken to the hospital after an explosion at the facility.
Their conditions are unknown at this time, however the president of United Steelworkers Local 1123 confirmed to News 5 the three men had worked at TimkenSteel for quite some time.
Busy night for Stark County firefighters. First around 10:30pm an explosion injured 3 workers at the Timken's Faircrest Steel Plant. Their conditions are unknown. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/G1BE73JMB3
— Mike Vielhaber (@MVielhaber) July 27, 2022
Chief Larry Sedlock with Perry Township Fire Department told News 5 that when his team arrived a little after 10:30 p.m. Tuesday night, they found boxes on fire all over the plant.
"It was a bad situation last night," he said. "We found out the boxes were ignited from an explosion from within the second floor of the melt shop there, which blew fire and debris out the building and out the windows which ignited the boxes on fire."
A spokesperson with OSHA confirmed to News 5 that they are aware of the incident and have compliance officers on site and investigating.
TimkenSteel released the following statement on the explosion:
"We received a report at approximately 10:30 PM EDT on July 26, 2022, of an incident at TimkenSteel’s Faircrest plant in Canton, Ohio. TimkenSteel employees immediately responded and contacted emergency services and three employees were transported to the hospital for treatment and evaluation. The safety and wellbeing of our employees is a top priority, and we are continuing to investigate the cause of the incident."
The president of United Steelworkers Local 1123 released the following statement:
Out of respect for the injured and their families, we have no comment on their condition or status. We currently have our Local Union full time safety representatives diligently helping and coordinating response efforts. We would like to applaud the heroic efforts of all the first responders and the affected workers and ask for respect and privacy during these tragic events.
This is the latest incident for the company that was recently placed in OSHA's Severe Violator Enforcement Program last month.
OSHA's Enforcement Program focuses on inspecting employers that have demonstrated indifference to the OSHA Act by willful, repeated, or failed to abate violations.
TimkenSteel became one of about 700 companies on the list, including about 60 in Ohio.
Back in 2013, two workers were killed when a massive piece of a crane fell on them at the plant.
In 2016, Kenny Ray Jr., a fire technician at TimkenSteel, died of nitrogen exposure.
RELATED: OSHA: Worker likely died from nitrogen exposure
Most recently, TimkenSteel was cited by OSHA after a 65-year-old worker was killed in Dec. 2021 at the Gambrinus facility.
OSHA found the company failed to install guards or provide proper hand tools to prevent workers from getting caught up in machinery.
Firefighters believe the explosion started in a furnace, but need to investigate further.
TimkenSteel spun off as its own company from The Timken Company in 2014.
