Alloy, WV – Three workers have been hospitalized after an arc flash explosion at the West Virginia Alloy Plant, outside of Montgomery, WV. Two had flash arc burns to their hands, and one suffered burns to the face.
The employees were in the basement of an aluminum-sided building when they struck a power source. Sources said the men suffered from arc flash burns. According to the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, “the intense heat and light emitted from an arc flash can cause severe burns, destroying skin and tissue. An arc flash can ignite or melt clothing, resulting in further burns. Victims sometimes require skin grafts or amputations. Death is more likely with increased severity of burns, the percent of body area affected and age.”
Although the plant is not commenting right now on what caused the accident, Captain Jim Sizemore with the Fayette County Sheriffs Department is stating that electrical transformers at the plant blew.
The West Virginia alloy plant, in Alloy, West Virginia produces silican. According to the company’s website they are one of the world’s largest producers of silicon metal, silicon-based specialty alloys and silicon fume — critical ingredients in a host of industrial and consumer products with growing markets.
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