Three Remain Critical After G-P Explosion

CORRIGAN, TX—Three employees remain in critical condition and another is listed as fair at a nearby hospital following Saturday night's explosion at a mill here that injured seven people.

The more seriously injured were transported to Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston after the explosion and fire that rocked a Georgia-Pacific plywood mill in Corrigan, KTRE-TV Channel 7 reported. The other three injured workers were treated at a hospital in Lufkin and released.

The fire started around 6:30 p.m. in the bag house at the plant, a silo-type structure that collects dust from sanding plywood. A Georgia-Pacific spokesman told the station that the explosion doors of the bag house vented, as they were supposed to, when pressure from the fire built up. However, there were employees nearby at the time of the venting, at which time flames came out of the doors.

Georgia-Pacific has closed the mill for the time being. Officials from the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSGA) are on hand performing an investigation.