Gasoline tank explodes
BARKEYVILLE, Venango County — An industrial explosion that witnesses say sent a ball of flame skyward Thursday morning across from Barkeyville Travel Center closed down nearby roads and sent two men to the hospital with minor burns.
Fire companies from three counties — Venango, Mercer and Butler — spent about three hours at the scene of the explosion and subsequent fire at Heath Oil on Route 8, said Gerry Rea, chief of Clintonville Volunteer Fire Department.
Firefighters arrived at the business at about 8 a.m. Thursday, after a million-gallon storage tank that normally holds gasoline exploded while it was being cleaned by two company employees.
Rea said two men, who were not identified by emergency responders or the company, were taken by Superior Ambulance to Grove City Medical Center with minor burns.
“They were very lucky,” Rea said.
Hospital spokeswoman Mona Philson confirmed on Thursday that the two men were treated for minor burns and released. Andy Restauri, the company's vice president of operations, said both men are residents of Venango County. One of the men returned to work on Thursday, and the other went home after being released from the hospital, Restauri said.
It was not clear Thursday what caused the tank to explode, or how much damage had been caused to the facility, which a company official said was constructed in the 1970s.
Restauri said the tank, which sits among other similarly-sized tanks in an above-ground storage facility, held less than one inch of a gasoline by-product left after gasoline is drained from the tank.
Restauri said an initial inspection by the state Department of Environmental Protection determined no substances escaped during the explosion or fire. He said the company would perform its own investigation, but that his initial assessment was that the tank had been damaged beyond repair by the explosion.
Rae said the subsequent fire destroyed one company vehicle, a Chevrolet Blazer parked near the tank which exploded, and damaged the front of a company van.
It also scorched nearby storage tanks of various sizes, which Restauri said did contain “product.” He declined to specify what was in the storage tanks, but said that emergency cooling systems prevented any further fires or damage.
Restauri credited a quick, widespread response and firefighters' familiarity with the facility for mitigating the damage.
“We can't thank them enough, and I want to thank them personally,” he said. “It could have been way worse.”
Rae said firefighters used a water-foam mixture to extinguish the blaze, which continued to smoke until about 10 a.m.
The explosion sent a large ball of fire skyward and lifted the tank's top off its base, witnesses said.
Jackie Stewart of Clintonville, who is a cashier at a BP gas station across the road from the storage facility, said she and other employees at the store were watching the tank smoke shortly before 8 a.m. when they heard a “whooshing” sound and then saw “this huge ball of flame (emerge) and the lid come off.”
“It was a huge ball (of flame),” Stewart said. “You could hear it coming.”
The explosion prompted Venango County emergency officials to shut down Route 8 from Route 208 to the road's interchange with Interstate 80.
State roads officials also shut down two access ramps along Interstate 80, cutting off access to the Barkeyville Travel Center, a full-service truck stop operated by Travel Centers of America. A manager at the center on Thursday referred questions to the company's corporate office.
Both the state route and interstate were reopened to traffic by noon on Thursday.
The state Department of Environmental Protection also responded to the explosion. Melanie Williams, a DEP spokeswoman, said an investigation continues.
