US - Worker presumed dead at power plant fire

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Worker presumed dead at

power plant fire

Sunday,

March 5, 2006; Posted: 11:39 a.m. EST (16:39 GMT)

 

MOUNDSVILLE, West Virginia (AP) -- Crews on Sunday waited for a smoldering

fire to die out inside a 100-story-high power plant smokestack so they could

search for the body of a worker presumed dead inside.

The worker was one of several installing a fiberglass lining

inside the concrete stack when the fire broke out

Saturday.

Three other workers at the top of the stack were trapped for

two hours above the flames before a dramatic helicopter rescue.

" They were able to get on top of the stack and able to

secure themselves on the side to stay out of the fire, " Marshall County

Sheriff John Gruzinskas said.

Ground crews communicated with the men by radio, he said,

and the three remained calm while awaiting rescue. They were all in stable

condition at hospitals Sunday.

Gruzinskas said he was amazed at the rescue by a Maryland

State Police helicopter, which lowered a bucket to lift each worker out

individually. West Virginia authorities requested the helicopter and its crew of trained

rescuers, which came about 100 miles from Cumberland, Maryland.

" I just couldn't imagine a rescue in daylight under the best of conditions, "

he said. " Here the stack is on fire, it's dark, and you've got three guys hanging

onto it. "

The cause of the fire had not been determined.

The missing man was one of several who were working inside

the 1,000-foot-tall stack at American Electric Power's Kammer-Mitchell plant,

AEP spokeswoman Carmen Prati-Miller said Sunday. The workers are employed by

Pullman Power LLC of Kansas City, Missouri.

" All but four were able to get out the bottom safely, " she said.

Prati-Miller did not know how many workers were in the stack.

Fire officials decided to let the fire burn itself out

before trying to enter the stack, said Tom Hart, director of Marshall County

Emergency Management.

Engineers determined that the stack remained stable,

Prati-Miller said.

The coal-fired power plant is south of Moundsville, about 68

miles southwest of Pittsburgh. It is being upgraded to bring the power station into compliance

with federal air pollution regulations.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/03/05/powerplant.fire.ap/index.html

 

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