‘Massive’ explosion at Alberta oilsands injures 3
CBC News
Thursday, January 6, 2011 An explosion has rocked the Horizon oilsands site near Fort McKay in northern Alberta, injuring three employees, officials with Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., which owns the site, confirmed. The explosion occurred around 3:30 p.m. MT Thursday. A contractor at the site said the blast shot flames and smoke hundreds of metres into the air. “We heard a massive explosion rock the entire area,” said the man, who did not want to be named. “We thought it was in our unit. We ran out of the unit as quickly as we can. I looked up back up at the coker structure, and it was completely engulfed in flames — a 480-foot [146-metre] tall structure completely engulfed in flames.” One employee with third-degree burns was taken to hospital, a spokesperson for Alberta Occupational Health and Safety said. The condition of the other two injured employees is not known. The company has accounted for all employees. People who live in nearby Fort McKay have been told to prepare for a possible evacuation. Resident Marlene Orr told CBC earlier in the day she could see smoke from her kitchen window. “I’m looking at a huge wall of black smoke that’s filling the sky,” Orr said. “We don’t know what is being released right now into the air.” …
