CLEVELAND — Two workers were injured after a "minor explosion" and fire broke out at a waste disposal and recycling facility in Avon Lake Friday morning, the city's fire chief said.
Firefighters were called to the ReWorld waste facility at around 10:15 a.m., according to Avon Lake Fire Chief Jeremy Betsa. Betsa said the fire started while employees were disposing of bottled hand sanitizer.
"The investigation found that they were processing hand sanitizer bottles by shredding the bottles and separating the plastic from the hand sanitizer," Betsa told 3News via email. "In the processing of that, a spark was created from the machine which initiated a minor explosion and the fire."
On Sunday, ReWorld Communications Director Nicolle Robles refuted the Avon Lake fire chief's official account, telling 3News via email that "there was no explosion at the site."
"There was a loud noise, but nothing 'exploded,'" Robles said.
Betsa said two ReWorld employees were injured. One was hospitalized with burns and another was taken to a medical facility with "respiratory distress," the fire chief said. According to Betsa, both workers were treated and expected to be released.
ReWorld's sprinkler system, along with fire crews' response, helped keep most of the fire controlled within the first 20 minutes and all of the fire was contained in "about an hour," Betsa said. The fire caused heavy damage to the machine involved in the incident and minor damage to the building.
According to the fire chief, ReWorld "was able to contain all products and water run off from the facility" and the city's storm water or sanitary system were not impacted by the incident.
