Multiple injuries reported in large explosions at Florida propane plant

Tyler Mackenzie Photography

A series of explosions engulfed a propane plant in flames in Tavares, Florida, late Monday. This photo was taken at 11.36 p.m. from a location between 1-2 miles from the blast.

By M. Alex Johnson, Staff Writer, NBC News

A series of explosions engulfed a propane plant in flames in Tavares, Fla., late Monday, injuring at least seven people ? three of them critically ? and forcing evacuations for a half-mile around the scene, authorities said.

The explosions began as a fire spread through the Blue Rhino plant in Lake County,?near Orlando,?about 10:30 p.m. ET, Lake County sheriff's Lt. John Herrell told reporters early Tuesday. Seven people were taken to hospitals, two by helicopter, he said. All of them were in the plant when the fire started.

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Residents of the area told NBC station WESH of Orlando that flames from the explosions could be seen for several miles, but there were no reports of damage to the surrounding buildings. ?

WESH-TV

Flames from the Blue Rhino propane plant in Tavares, Fla., seen from the air Monday night.

"It sounds like bombs are going off," Norma Haygood, a nearby resident, told WESH.

No deaths were immediately reported, Herrell said. Three male victims were in critical condition, the Orlando Regional Medical Center, told NBC News.?

Two were airlifted, while a third was still being transported by ambulance at 3:00 a.m ET. ?

Authorities initially declared a one-mile evacuation zone around the plant, but they later scaled that back to a half-mile, effective until 6 a.m. ET.?

"We feel that there is no longer any danger" to the area around the plant, Herrell said.

Twenty-four or 26 people were scheduled to work the night shift at the 33,000-acre facility, according to plant managers, Herrell said. Authorities initially said 15 people were unaccounted for, but Herrell later said the company's management said that they had accounted for all of the people it knew were in the plant at the time of the initial explosion.

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Some of them showed up at others location, according to Blue Rhino, Herrell said. He said he had no further information on where the others were.

The plant housed about 53,000 20-pound propane cylinders, Herrell said.

"They store the propane cylinders on different parts of the property, and as the fire spread, there were more and more explosions," he said.?

Explosions continued but were diminishing at 1 a.m. ET Tuesday, 2? hours after the first blasts were reported.

Don Ingram, former plant production supervisor at the plant, said his son felt one of the explosions in their home 6 miles away.

Ingram told WESH that the back area of the plant is "lined with propane tanks stacked four or five high on plastic pallets."

"I don't think you fight this fire," he said. "It's just too dangerous."

Blue Rhino is a subsidiary of Ferrellgas Partners, the second-largest distributor of propane in the U.S.

Azhar Fateh of NBC News contributed to this report.

This story was originally published on Tue Jul 30, 2013 3:24 AM EDT

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