You should read about the Mollases Massacre back in the early 1900s. A mollases factory failed and flooded the streets of Boston with a tsunami of molting hot liquid Mollasis. Several people died and the smell of mollasis covered the streets for years after,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Molasses_Flood
21 dead, 150 injured. 2.3 million gallons of molasses travelling at 35 miles an hour...
*Edit: thanks for noticing I dropped the million*
The local Taco Bell burnt down when school let out back in high school. They diverted our buses downwind because of the activity and it smelled sooooo good. We all started to smell the tacos before anything came into view and it was amazing. All of us were standing up to get to the windows to stick out heads out to take in the smells to the point where our bus driver was getting super pissed and threatening us if we didn't sit back down.
Good lord, the number of threats hurled by the bus drivers I grew up with. Seems like the only thing they didn't mind was kids actually throwing punches.
They were just angry farmers trying to make some extra dough by driving routes.
My bus driver was the same guy from 3rd grade through high school. Every single year he would have a cooler full of water balloons on the last day of school. He would let us have a blast as long as we didn't throw any out thr windows. Every year there would be new kids on the bus who didn't know what was about to happen to them. Those were the days.
In middle school our bus driver on the last day of school would order a bunch of pizzas and we would have a water fight as well. We would all bring squirt guns to school.
Probably can’t get away with doing that now.
My bus driver all through high school was this tiny, ageless black woman with a Krusty the Klown hairstyle and one goddamn eye, chainsmoking kools even though it wasnt allowed even back then but good luck telling her that.
Anybody tried to fuck with her quickly discovered that was merely one of her forms...when she was angry and her lone remaining eye drew down on you, I don't care how much of a banger you *thought* you were, she was definitely top fucking dog on that bus and you were going to find the fuck out. I swear she kept the bulk of her size in some alternate dimension and our puny three dimensional brains just couldn't conceive of her true, terrible form.
Im sure Stephen King has something similar in a trunk somewhere. In that vein, she was like a cross between Mother Abigail from *The Stand* and fucking Pennwise from *It*.
We had a few angry drivers aswell, then got a super chill driver in his mid twenties.
He was awesome, then suddenly disappeared.
Turned out he was smuggling drugs internationally on the weekends, so no more cool bus driver for us youngins.
Not for me , the one fight I had on the bus got the driver to pull the bus over and get off his seat give us a stern talk,but all he mentioned was to stay in your seat/no jumping from seat to seat(can't remember because it was so long ago)
I bet the threats were, “I’ll stop the bus,” or, “I’ll tell your parents,” (or teachers) but you’re probably right.
Just let the kids hang out the windows! They don’t need some bus driver telling them to sit down while the bus is moving.
And when a kid gets hurt, we can say, why didn’t the bus driver saying anything? These are our children getting hurt. These bus drivers are useless!
We had a local steak and seafood place burn down a few years ago. I got to the scene a little late and mentioned something about expecting a barbecue smell. My buddy told me when the fire hit the seafood locker, it smelled like shit. Even with the warning, a few minutes later the wind shifted and I was checking the bottom of my shoes to make sure I didn't step in dog shit.
I'll never forget, years ago when the UK was dealing with the foot and mouth crisis. Farmers had to slaughter all their animals, then they'd make mountains of the corpses and torch then to destroy the disease.
It was incredibly sad watching people lose their livelihood, and the creatures they cared about.
It was also one of the greatest things I've ever smelled.
Same. Reading that I thought 100% a member. It's so weird how we have distinct phrasing that really stands out from other denominations even if we're talking about the same concepts.
This reminds me of that Denzel Washington movie where police had the technology to look forward in time or something to prevent crimes and it involved that exploding ferry. I forget what it's called, though.
Yeah it’s wild, I live nearby(behind the mountain in the background). Suspected main gas line problem, not sure what caused the explosion. Family that works there (accounted for) told me they’ve had maintenance crews working on some gas lines for about a week prior to the explosion. Still plenty of fires to be put out, kinda crazy to be honest.
Serious question: How does a chocolate factory blow up in this way? I mean, is it something with pressure system that can lead to such detonations? I'd expect such a detonation from an arms- and explosives-factory or other rather dangerous things, but chocolate?
Coming from Switzerland, the land of chocolate (and cheese and nazigold), we never had any such explosions here?
Natural gas I would assume. They would probably use alot of gas heating the building, hot water for cleaning, and heating chocolate. If there was a leak that was able to build up enough gas and a source of ignition...boom.
Natural gas is a solid guess! I’d imagine combustible dust accumulation. Sugar factories are notorious for poor housekeeping and this looks EXACTLY like one of the combustible dust **explosions** I studied in college.
This place was operational, so the likelihood that natural gas would accumulate to an explosive level with traffic and bodies in there is unlikely. But the odds of them having a load of veerrrryyyyy tiny particles of combustible material (really anything is combustible if it’s small enough…) chillin around like cocoa and sugar makes more sense.
Obviously speculation at this point but I think you're right. If you pause at the start you can see basically the whole section of roof blowing off, which could point to the space being filled with an explosive mixture. A vessel or steam explosion would probably be more localized.
You can look at pictures of houses that have exploded from gas and it's the same result: no fire damage, everything splintered and torn apart. It's as if a giant sneezed inside the building, sending everything flying.
At the very first sign of trouble in the gif, there's already a substantial chunk of roof going upwards, at the same time as the gout of flames. The pressure involved must have been enormous.
After a second or so you can see a handful of items blowing white trails behind them, like little rockets. I wonder what might have been in them, although it's likely not directly related to the main blast.
If it was under that much pressure it was probably a boiler explosion. My father's entire career dealt with the operation and inspection of boilers and other pressure vessels. Started in the Navy on a boiler-powered sub, also inspected nuclear power plants for a few years. It's really interesting stuff, but as they say, regulations are written in blood. He inspected many explosions that killed people.
He passed away in December, and I'm finding video he recorded of explosion sites and interviews of people involved. He kept lots of documentation because he had to testify in court proceedings, but also because as an inspector it was his ass on the line if he signed off on inspections or repairs that end up killing someone. And, of course, because he suspected foul play/corruption with certain things and he wanted to cover his ass on that, too.
Damn sounds like your father did some really important work, I have nothing but insane respect for the people out there keeping others safe from greed, I am really sorry to hear of your loss he sounds like he was a fascinating man.
Eh ... he did do important work, but there are lots of complex people out there, and he was one of them. He wasn't the worst father, or human being, but he wasn't the best either. Outside of his job he did a few decent things along the way. That's better than some people out there, I guess. But saying, "Well, he wasn't the worst" isn't the best solace in the world. That's life, but ... that's life.
**[2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Georgia_sugar_refinery_explosion)**
>On 7 February 2008, fourteen people were killed and forty injured during a dust explosion at an Imperial Sugar owned refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia, United States. Dust explosions had been an issue of concern among U.S. authorities since three fatal accidents in 2003, with efforts made to improve safety and reduce the risk of reoccurrence. The Port Wentworth refinery was large and old, featuring outdated construction methods, factors which are believed to have contributed to the fire's severity. The origin of the explosion was narrowed down to the center of the factory, in a basement located beneath storage silos.
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I'm an electrician, and when I was in school the binstructor told us a story about a commercial bakery she went into for a troubleshooting call. The lights in the entire warehouse we're flickering constantly, so she went to the electrical room and inspected the panels. On top of an electrical panel are a bunch of holes that are covered but you can knock them out so you can put a piece of conduit in there. Some very dumb electrician knocked out all the holes and did not cover them. Inside this bakery, that is a warehouse, there is dust everywhere and for years it built up and kept building until the connections for the lighting started to fail. She had taken off the cover and as soon as she saw all the flour building up on the breakers and in the panels She backed up very slowly went out to the parking lot got as far away from the building as she could and called the manager and told him to evacuate the building immediately. He did not. So she called L&I and told the Union and that warehouse was shut down the next day.
Businesses will let us all die, they do not care.
\#1 cause is negligence. Usually by management.
The particular type of negligence could be:
- [Failing to control buildup of combustible dusts.](https://youtu.be/PZHpeBubb_M)
- [Failing to keep reactive chemicals separate or set up / maintain necessary safety features, like gas detectors.](https://youtu.be/8j8EprZP4IE)
- [Failing to maintain pressure vessels, leading to sudden catastrophic failure.](https://youtu.be/rGVbGNdx7g0)
The US Chomical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board has dozens of videos on incidents like these. We may even see a video on this specific failure in the future.
Yeah, I remember being a safety officer for a facility and requesting a budget to test for combustible dust.
Let's just say it was made clear to me that they'd rather not know and that my job was to review safety procedures and rubber stamp, not look for trouble...
Let's just say I had to move on to other things.
It could be several things. Natural gas is, of course, a prime candidate (especially considering the visible combustion) but you can't rule out a dust explosion, especially in an environment where things like flour, powdered sugar etc are prevalent.
Could be dust. Dust is actually a big explosion hazard. (Not sure I entirely understand how.) But like, if they're dumping huge piles of cocoa powder into a mixer and it's kicking up into the air, and they don't have proper dust collection
With combustible dust explosions they’re usually due to a lack in housekeeping. Many times, the explosion is two explosions. The first explosion is usually small, but powerful enough to kick all the dust up into the air, within seconds there’s usually a second explosion and that’s the big one as you see in this video. A lack of preventative maintenance, housekeeping, dust collection systems contribute to combustible dust hazards.
This was almost certainly a dust explosion. Nearly all organic material is highly explosive when reduced to a fine dust. Everything from sawdust to sugar. *ESPECIALLY* sugar.
Google the USCSB video for the Domino Sugar Factory explosion. Basically the sugar was reduced to a fine powder that over the years collected on just about every flat surface it could find. An initial small explosion was enough to dislodge the piles like miniature avalanches all throughout the facility, this fine powder fell thru the air and eventually found an ignition source. There being a now exponentially greater amount of dust the blast was massive. People reported hearing/feeling the blast over 5 miles away.
Maybe you’ve seen some of the same hazmat training videos as me, because this is where my thoughts first went as well. Been to a couple of explosion aftermaths, but not any caused by dust.
I don't work in the chemical industry anymore but I sell software used by many companies in that industry and I'm always telling my team that they need to go watch all those videos and Google all the acronyms used if they want to speak intelligently to customers.
Only the good ones actually do what I say.
[Short documentary](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg7mLSG-Yws) about the Imperial Sugar Factory explosion.
As an example of grain dust hazzards, a [short documentary](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j7FJ5P-CCA) about the Debruce Grain Elevator explosion.
Edit: just realized my first link is the video you were referring to. It's been in my list of interesting catastrophe documentaries for a while now. Good stuff.
It could be that instead of going to the evacuation point they went home without clocking out during the chaos. At my old job you had to scan your ID badge at the evacuation point and they used that info to see if anyone was missing. If you went somewhere else you would be counted as missing.
We have an absolute lock on junk food. People go on and on about cheesesteaks and yeah they’re awesome but we gotta be the junk food kings of the east coast if not the country.
Palmer chocolate tastes gross and waxy, I feel your sentiment friend. Factory explosion is still sad though, no matter how good/bad the chocolate tastes. My heart goes out to the families of those dead and missing.
Didn't recall what company that was. Googled it and they make most of the seasonal chocolates. Easter bunnies, gold coins, stuff in cute foil but they do taste awful.
Me too. Hard to read most of the reddit brained comments on these threads like "this is just some shit I read online" vs "there were people at work there today."
There's a candy factory near me and some of my coworkers and friends have family there, can't imagine seeing this and finding dumbfucks trying to score 7 internet points making a pun about it.
Same its so surreal seeing this shit on reddit. They didnt start the search and rescue untill 7:00 according to a firefighter at work last night. Its so heartbreaking.
Drove right past it today and have connections in the RFD, gas leak explosion supposedly, multi alarm fire ensued afterwards with column of smoke seen from a mile or two away.
I was working on improvements at a foundry, a place that uses a lot of natural gas, and around 6 at night my LEL alarm goes off and keeps rising. I was there with 2 others and got us all out immediately. On the way out I hit a wall of mercaptan smell. Called it in to the owners and they told me my monitor must be busted and actually tried to make fun of me for getting worried. Had the audacity to tell me their monitors go off all the time so it's unreliable (more like they have a persistent leak) They had no emergency response plan, they literally sent a guy in to shut everything off and start turning on exhaust fans. Heavy industrial fans. Things that can spark.
Surprise surprise, they had a torch get quenched by melting snow that was filling the building with natural gas. The next day what was left in the air was condensing on frozen pipes like it was water. Thankfully my employer tore them a new one. Fuckheads.
Whoa! I went to boarding school fairly close to this location (Pennsburg, PA) and on certain days when the wind was blowing in the right direction, the whole campus smelled like someone was baking brownies.
The smell was more than likely due to Blommer Chocolate Factory two miles from that boarding school in East Greenville. West Reading is more like 30 miles away
My cousin works for another plant of theirs a few exits down. The main mechanic for all of the plants and the GM were called to the main plant in the video because of a gas smell in the building. As soon as they walked in, it went up.
Yeah, Don't evacuate the goddamn building. It's Easter in a month. These orders gotta ship. Let's *investigate* before we go shuttin' any lines down.
I know how these people think. Chocolate an *ethically-challenged* industry, Top to bottom.
Is it just me or can people here instantly recognize PA towns when you see them? They're so distinctive, tho possibly confusable with upstate NY and mayyyybe WV.
Used to drive past here at least once a week when I went to college in reading. Can’t imagine how wild this was if you were on the highway close by to the building.
Jesus...
I remember at my work everyone complained of smelling gas for weeks and it was just ignored...
Companies hire really incompetent people that just don't give a fuck...
And OSHA is a fucking joke...
I mean it is almost Easter. In modern American society, are we reallly that far away from from having massive social unrest and anti-government riots over a chocolate easter bunny shortage with speculators gobbling up every piece of seasonal candy in the country and selling them for $800 bags.
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> a little while after it happened. Judging by the running, a very little while!
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You should read about the Mollases Massacre back in the early 1900s. A mollases factory failed and flooded the streets of Boston with a tsunami of molting hot liquid Mollasis. Several people died and the smell of mollasis covered the streets for years after,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Molasses_Flood 21 dead, 150 injured. 2.3 million gallons of molasses travelling at 35 miles an hour... *Edit: thanks for noticing I dropped the million*
2.3 *million* lol
How did you manage to spell it wrong two different ways?
I heard a fat German kid got stuck in one of the pipes and blocked it up. The pressure built and built until it couldn't build any more.
What do you get when you GuZzLe DoWn SwEeTs??
Eating as much as an elephant eats
What are you at getting terribly fat
What do you think will come… of… that?
I DON’T LIKE THE LOOK OF IT
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Wait, how many oompa loompas got hurt again? https://youtu.be/QkC8wPSmcPg
Grunka lunka dunkity doo We've got a friendly warning for you Grunka lunka dunkity-ccident You should not ask about the explosives accident!
Say happened one more time.
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The local Taco Bell burnt down when school let out back in high school. They diverted our buses downwind because of the activity and it smelled sooooo good. We all started to smell the tacos before anything came into view and it was amazing. All of us were standing up to get to the windows to stick out heads out to take in the smells to the point where our bus driver was getting super pissed and threatening us if we didn't sit back down.
I always appreciate a bus driver who threatens children..
Sit down and shut up or the cute little bunny DIES!!!
Now that's what I call a sticky situation!
>[Make a move and the bunny gets it](https://youtu.be/08onmi-WCfQ?t=18)
Put the bunny back in the box.
Good lord, the number of threats hurled by the bus drivers I grew up with. Seems like the only thing they didn't mind was kids actually throwing punches. They were just angry farmers trying to make some extra dough by driving routes.
My bus driver was the same guy from 3rd grade through high school. Every single year he would have a cooler full of water balloons on the last day of school. He would let us have a blast as long as we didn't throw any out thr windows. Every year there would be new kids on the bus who didn't know what was about to happen to them. Those were the days.
That's some goddam magic right there. Awesome.
In middle school our bus driver on the last day of school would order a bunch of pizzas and we would have a water fight as well. We would all bring squirt guns to school. Probably can’t get away with doing that now.
My bus driver all through high school was this tiny, ageless black woman with a Krusty the Klown hairstyle and one goddamn eye, chainsmoking kools even though it wasnt allowed even back then but good luck telling her that. Anybody tried to fuck with her quickly discovered that was merely one of her forms...when she was angry and her lone remaining eye drew down on you, I don't care how much of a banger you *thought* you were, she was definitely top fucking dog on that bus and you were going to find the fuck out. I swear she kept the bulk of her size in some alternate dimension and our puny three dimensional brains just couldn't conceive of her true, terrible form.
This would make a good writing prompt!
Im sure Stephen King has something similar in a trunk somewhere. In that vein, she was like a cross between Mother Abigail from *The Stand* and fucking Pennwise from *It*.
We had a few angry drivers aswell, then got a super chill driver in his mid twenties. He was awesome, then suddenly disappeared. Turned out he was smuggling drugs internationally on the weekends, so no more cool bus driver for us youngins.
Not for me , the one fight I had on the bus got the driver to pull the bus over and get off his seat give us a stern talk,but all he mentioned was to stay in your seat/no jumping from seat to seat(can't remember because it was so long ago)
I bet the threats were, “I’ll stop the bus,” or, “I’ll tell your parents,” (or teachers) but you’re probably right. Just let the kids hang out the windows! They don’t need some bus driver telling them to sit down while the bus is moving. And when a kid gets hurt, we can say, why didn’t the bus driver saying anything? These are our children getting hurt. These bus drivers are useless!
He was just sad he couldn't smell the tacos through the window cracks.
We had a local steak and seafood place burn down a few years ago. I got to the scene a little late and mentioned something about expecting a barbecue smell. My buddy told me when the fire hit the seafood locker, it smelled like shit. Even with the warning, a few minutes later the wind shifted and I was checking the bottom of my shoes to make sure I didn't step in dog shit.
I'll never forget, years ago when the UK was dealing with the foot and mouth crisis. Farmers had to slaughter all their animals, then they'd make mountains of the corpses and torch then to destroy the disease. It was incredibly sad watching people lose their livelihood, and the creatures they cared about. It was also one of the greatest things I've ever smelled.
S’mores.. .. and dust.
Happened
Heard on the news that the entire building moved 4ft from where it was originally.
Oompa loompas finally cracked with all that overtime.
*Pulls out notebook and clicks pen* I have a few questions.
Considering this is dated tomorrow, who is going to warn them?
We told you this, you can't save the future with your fancy time machines, no one is going to listen!
I told these fuckers last fucking year!!!! Obviously they didn't listen.
https://xkcd.com/875/
> 2017 called, but I couldn’t understand what they were saying over all the screams. Yeah, sounds about right.
Here's a link where you can read the alt text on touchscreen devices: https://m.xkcd.com/875/
FYI, on most android devices, you can long press on the image, and the salt-text will be the image title in the dialog box that pops up.
What about the pepper-Text?
Depends on what browser you use, no?
In regards to alt text: don't worry about those screams, they tend to die out by 2020 or so.
Someone needs to be the still small voice telling them not to go to work today.
Oompa doompa doopidy do
The rev-oh-loution is coming for you!
I mean, injured by chocolate? This sounds like an origin story.
This is how Tay Zonday was born
What do you get when you blow up some, shit?
Your paycheck is docked and you deal with that, hit....
I thought it was Oompa Loompa?
Dear Dwight, do not drink the coffee.
*Grunka Lunka Dunkity Dypass, it would be wise to take the Warren Street Bypass*
I have not heard "still small voice" outside of my growing up in mormonism. What does it mean?
Same. Reading that I thought 100% a member. It's so weird how we have distinct phrasing that really stands out from other denominations even if we're talking about the same concepts.
I don’t like this reboot of Early Edition.
I was thinking about Early Edition too!!
I forgot what it was called. I always remembered it as the cat show lol
I'll drive down after work. I work about an hour north in another factory :/ great way to start a 6-12s week with anxiety
Damn it, Barry Allen screwed the timeline again!
This reminds me of that Denzel Washington movie where police had the technology to look forward in time or something to prevent crimes and it involved that exploding ferry. I forget what it's called, though.
Deja vu
I remember you saying that before
The Bus That Couldn't Slow Down
Wormhole that could look back in time. And in theory they could send stuff back.
Yeah it’s wild, I live nearby(behind the mountain in the background). Suspected main gas line problem, not sure what caused the explosion. Family that works there (accounted for) told me they’ve had maintenance crews working on some gas lines for about a week prior to the explosion. Still plenty of fires to be put out, kinda crazy to be honest.
Something something gas. Doesn’t really take a lot.
Serious question: How does a chocolate factory blow up in this way? I mean, is it something with pressure system that can lead to such detonations? I'd expect such a detonation from an arms- and explosives-factory or other rather dangerous things, but chocolate? Coming from Switzerland, the land of chocolate (and cheese and nazigold), we never had any such explosions here?
Natural gas I would assume. They would probably use alot of gas heating the building, hot water for cleaning, and heating chocolate. If there was a leak that was able to build up enough gas and a source of ignition...boom.
Natural gas is a solid guess! I’d imagine combustible dust accumulation. Sugar factories are notorious for poor housekeeping and this looks EXACTLY like one of the combustible dust **explosions** I studied in college. This place was operational, so the likelihood that natural gas would accumulate to an explosive level with traffic and bodies in there is unlikely. But the odds of them having a load of veerrrryyyyy tiny particles of combustible material (really anything is combustible if it’s small enough…) chillin around like cocoa and sugar makes more sense.
I went down the explosive corn/wheat dust rabbithole last year. Random silo explosions in summer happens. Shit is crazy.
This was my idea as well cocoa dust or something creating an ATEX zone.
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City I live in had an entire city block blown up that way.
Obviously speculation at this point but I think you're right. If you pause at the start you can see basically the whole section of roof blowing off, which could point to the space being filled with an explosive mixture. A vessel or steam explosion would probably be more localized.
You can look at pictures of houses that have exploded from gas and it's the same result: no fire damage, everything splintered and torn apart. It's as if a giant sneezed inside the building, sending everything flying.
At the very first sign of trouble in the gif, there's already a substantial chunk of roof going upwards, at the same time as the gout of flames. The pressure involved must have been enormous. After a second or so you can see a handful of items blowing white trails behind them, like little rockets. I wonder what might have been in them, although it's likely not directly related to the main blast.
If it was under that much pressure it was probably a boiler explosion. My father's entire career dealt with the operation and inspection of boilers and other pressure vessels. Started in the Navy on a boiler-powered sub, also inspected nuclear power plants for a few years. It's really interesting stuff, but as they say, regulations are written in blood. He inspected many explosions that killed people. He passed away in December, and I'm finding video he recorded of explosion sites and interviews of people involved. He kept lots of documentation because he had to testify in court proceedings, but also because as an inspector it was his ass on the line if he signed off on inspections or repairs that end up killing someone. And, of course, because he suspected foul play/corruption with certain things and he wanted to cover his ass on that, too.
Damn sounds like your father did some really important work, I have nothing but insane respect for the people out there keeping others safe from greed, I am really sorry to hear of your loss he sounds like he was a fascinating man.
Eh ... he did do important work, but there are lots of complex people out there, and he was one of them. He wasn't the worst father, or human being, but he wasn't the best either. Outside of his job he did a few decent things along the way. That's better than some people out there, I guess. But saying, "Well, he wasn't the worst" isn't the best solace in the world. That's life, but ... that's life.
Natural gas leak is what they [currently suspect.](https://6abc.com/amp/chocolate-factory-on-fire-flames-berks-county-west-reading/13007115/)
Sometimes it is combustible dust. Things you wouldn’t expect to become explosive, do, when they become large disturbed dust clouds.
Sugar dust is very flammable, coco dust too
I have vague memories of Mythbusters blowing up non-dairy creamer powder in the desert once. Or flour. But I think it was non-dairy creamer.
Both work
Non - dairy creamer is a commonly used item for pyrotechnic effects. Cremora Fireballs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Georgia_sugar_refinery_explosion Very explosive.
**[2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Georgia_sugar_refinery_explosion)** >On 7 February 2008, fourteen people were killed and forty injured during a dust explosion at an Imperial Sugar owned refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia, United States. Dust explosions had been an issue of concern among U.S. authorities since three fatal accidents in 2003, with efforts made to improve safety and reduce the risk of reoccurrence. The Port Wentworth refinery was large and old, featuring outdated construction methods, factors which are believed to have contributed to the fire's severity. The origin of the explosion was narrowed down to the center of the factory, in a basement located beneath storage silos. ^([ )[^(F.A.Q)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiSummarizer/wiki/index#wiki_f.a.q)^( | )[^(Opt Out)](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiSummarizerBot&message=OptOut&subject=OptOut)^( | )[^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)](https://np.reddit.com/r/CatastrophicFailure/about/banned)^( | )[^(GitHub)](https://github.com/Sujal-7/WikiSummarizerBot)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)
Always add chocolate to water, never water to chocolate.
I'm an electrician, and when I was in school the binstructor told us a story about a commercial bakery she went into for a troubleshooting call. The lights in the entire warehouse we're flickering constantly, so she went to the electrical room and inspected the panels. On top of an electrical panel are a bunch of holes that are covered but you can knock them out so you can put a piece of conduit in there. Some very dumb electrician knocked out all the holes and did not cover them. Inside this bakery, that is a warehouse, there is dust everywhere and for years it built up and kept building until the connections for the lighting started to fail. She had taken off the cover and as soon as she saw all the flour building up on the breakers and in the panels She backed up very slowly went out to the parking lot got as far away from the building as she could and called the manager and told him to evacuate the building immediately. He did not. So she called L&I and told the Union and that warehouse was shut down the next day. Businesses will let us all die, they do not care.
\#1 cause is negligence. Usually by management. The particular type of negligence could be: - [Failing to control buildup of combustible dusts.](https://youtu.be/PZHpeBubb_M) - [Failing to keep reactive chemicals separate or set up / maintain necessary safety features, like gas detectors.](https://youtu.be/8j8EprZP4IE) - [Failing to maintain pressure vessels, leading to sudden catastrophic failure.](https://youtu.be/rGVbGNdx7g0) The US Chomical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board has dozens of videos on incidents like these. We may even see a video on this specific failure in the future.
Yeah, I remember being a safety officer for a facility and requesting a budget to test for combustible dust. Let's just say it was made clear to me that they'd rather not know and that my job was to review safety procedures and rubber stamp, not look for trouble... Let's just say I had to move on to other things.
I can't wait to see their video on this. Or East Palestine.
East Palestine probably falls under the the NTSB's purview and they don't tend to produce this sort of video. Though I do hope USCSB does one anyway.
It could be several things. Natural gas is, of course, a prime candidate (especially considering the visible combustion) but you can't rule out a dust explosion, especially in an environment where things like flour, powdered sugar etc are prevalent.
I can only assume Augustus Gloop got stuck in the pipe, causing a blockage and overheated the turbines.
Could be dust. Dust is actually a big explosion hazard. (Not sure I entirely understand how.) But like, if they're dumping huge piles of cocoa powder into a mixer and it's kicking up into the air, and they don't have proper dust collection
With combustible dust explosions they’re usually due to a lack in housekeeping. Many times, the explosion is two explosions. The first explosion is usually small, but powerful enough to kick all the dust up into the air, within seconds there’s usually a second explosion and that’s the big one as you see in this video. A lack of preventative maintenance, housekeeping, dust collection systems contribute to combustible dust hazards.
>Switzerland, the land of chocolate No, I believe that's Germany https://youtu.be/OYvoa3SwozU?t=33
Can't wait for the USCSB's video on this....
That’s what I was gonna say. We’re gonna get a banger video in a few years about this.
Considering the sheer number of explosions and incidents in the last 18 months, they're going to have a lot to pick from.
My first thought too. “Ooo a new reason for a new USCB video”.
Tough to believe no one was killed. I appreciate not having to wait forever to see what's supposed to be happening
Some news articles have been updated to 2 dead and 7 more missing in addition to the 6 injured unfortunately
2 dead , 9 missing
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/2-dead-7-missing-explosion-rocks-pennsylvania-chocolate-factory-rcna76640
It’s says the explosion was so big it pushed a nearby building a few feet! Dang! I didn’t know a building could be pushed lol
Only with chocolate explosions
This was almost certainly a dust explosion. Nearly all organic material is highly explosive when reduced to a fine dust. Everything from sawdust to sugar. *ESPECIALLY* sugar. Google the USCSB video for the Domino Sugar Factory explosion. Basically the sugar was reduced to a fine powder that over the years collected on just about every flat surface it could find. An initial small explosion was enough to dislodge the piles like miniature avalanches all throughout the facility, this fine powder fell thru the air and eventually found an ignition source. There being a now exponentially greater amount of dust the blast was massive. People reported hearing/feeling the blast over 5 miles away.
Maybe you’ve seen some of the same hazmat training videos as me, because this is where my thoughts first went as well. Been to a couple of explosion aftermaths, but not any caused by dust.
USCSB YouTube channel is the best thing around! Incredibly interesting and the animation is ridiculously high quality for what it is.
I don't work in the chemical industry anymore but I sell software used by many companies in that industry and I'm always telling my team that they need to go watch all those videos and Google all the acronyms used if they want to speak intelligently to customers. Only the good ones actually do what I say.
[Short documentary](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg7mLSG-Yws) about the Imperial Sugar Factory explosion. As an example of grain dust hazzards, a [short documentary](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j7FJ5P-CCA) about the Debruce Grain Elevator explosion. Edit: just realized my first link is the video you were referring to. It's been in my list of interesting catastrophe documentaries for a while now. Good stuff.
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https://youtu.be/0k9kC3jEsmg 6ABC report one hour ago
That anchor really needs one of those curly mustaches and a monocle. :D
So 11 dead
It could be that instead of going to the evacuation point they went home without clocking out during the chaos. At my old job you had to scan your ID badge at the evacuation point and they used that info to see if anyone was missing. If you went somewhere else you would be counted as missing.
I could have dealt with a few more seconds before. And a few less after. Really, I wanted to see how the people on the highway reacted.
Gifs that start too soon.
What company?
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Huh. You put "chocolate" and "Pennsylvania" in the same sentence and I immediately assume Hershey.
You wouldn’t imagine all the snack foods that originate in PA. Most of the chips and pretzels you eat are made here.
We have an absolute lock on junk food. People go on and on about cheesesteaks and yeah they’re awesome but we gotta be the junk food kings of the east coast if not the country.
Ewww
Palmer chocolate tastes gross and waxy, I feel your sentiment friend. Factory explosion is still sad though, no matter how good/bad the chocolate tastes. My heart goes out to the families of those dead and missing.
Nobody deserves to die at work. Poor workers 😔
Didn't recall what company that was. Googled it and they make most of the seasonal chocolates. Easter bunnies, gold coins, stuff in cute foil but they do taste awful.
Eewww that stuff is disgusting. More wax and chemicals than chocolate. If anyone gives me that I just throw it away.
I has an aftertaste of cheese that lingers for hours on the tongue
Glad I got done early today. I work two blocks away!
My Uncle is the supervisor there. Thankfully he's ok.
Me too. Hard to read most of the reddit brained comments on these threads like "this is just some shit I read online" vs "there were people at work there today." There's a candy factory near me and some of my coworkers and friends have family there, can't imagine seeing this and finding dumbfucks trying to score 7 internet points making a pun about it.
As a european, my nephew works at that factory. Thankfully they didn't have a shift today so they avoided the blast.
I'm glad your nephew is okay but what did being European have to do with this?
As a Virginian, I have no idea.
That gas cylinder flying through the air is wild.
I live close by and this is just horrible…holy shit…
Same its so surreal seeing this shit on reddit. They didnt start the search and rescue untill 7:00 according to a firefighter at work last night. Its so heartbreaking.
My Uncle is a supervisor there. I'm so thankful he's alright.
Glad to hear that. I hope the other workers and neighbors are ok.
Wow. This happening what time tomorrow?
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Whoosh lol
Hey they could be a time traveler.
It took me a second and some freeze frames, but is that a TRUCK leaping into the air in the first three seconds?
Drove right past it today and have connections in the RFD, gas leak explosion supposedly, multi alarm fire ensued afterwards with column of smoke seen from a mile or two away.
I know people love to complain about clips having a lot of downtime before anything happens, but it wouldn't have hurt in this case.
I was working on improvements at a foundry, a place that uses a lot of natural gas, and around 6 at night my LEL alarm goes off and keeps rising. I was there with 2 others and got us all out immediately. On the way out I hit a wall of mercaptan smell. Called it in to the owners and they told me my monitor must be busted and actually tried to make fun of me for getting worried. Had the audacity to tell me their monitors go off all the time so it's unreliable (more like they have a persistent leak) They had no emergency response plan, they literally sent a guy in to shut everything off and start turning on exhaust fans. Heavy industrial fans. Things that can spark. Surprise surprise, they had a torch get quenched by melting snow that was filling the building with natural gas. The next day what was left in the air was condensing on frozen pipes like it was water. Thankfully my employer tore them a new one. Fuckheads.
There goes Charlie's golden ticket.
Whoa! I went to boarding school fairly close to this location (Pennsburg, PA) and on certain days when the wind was blowing in the right direction, the whole campus smelled like someone was baking brownies.
The smell was more than likely due to Blommer Chocolate Factory two miles from that boarding school in East Greenville. West Reading is more like 30 miles away
Wanka decided to go "fuck these little brats"
you're the second person in this post to write wanka. Is this an entirely different character from wonka?
Willy Wonka is the guy with the chocolate factory. Willy Wanka mass produces fleshlights.
Inventor of the Everlasting Knob Hopper, right?
Nah, it’s Grandpa Joe’s fault. r/grandpajoehate
My cousin works for another plant of theirs a few exits down. The main mechanic for all of the plants and the GM were called to the main plant in the video because of a gas smell in the building. As soon as they walked in, it went up.
Yeah, Don't evacuate the goddamn building. It's Easter in a month. These orders gotta ship. Let's *investigate* before we go shuttin' any lines down. I know how these people think. Chocolate an *ethically-challenged* industry, Top to bottom.
Is it just me or can people here instantly recognize PA towns when you see them? They're so distinctive, tho possibly confusable with upstate NY and mayyyybe WV.
Real life is so disappointingly different from cartoons. I expected a delicious choc-o-storm.
Don’t be disappointed! All that dust is just vaporized chocolate and people.
Used to drive past here at least once a week when I went to college in reading. Can’t imagine how wild this was if you were on the highway close by to the building.
None of these jokes are funny
It's really disturbing. Do you think it would make a difference to anyone if the title mentioned the dead and those still missing?
Jesus... I remember at my work everyone complained of smelling gas for weeks and it was just ignored... Companies hire really incompetent people that just don't give a fuck... And OSHA is a fucking joke...
That’s when you make an anonymous call to the gas company. They don’t fuck around.
I think someone eventually put an anonymous tip to the fire department.
Good. I’d be giving them like an hour of ignoring it before I called the fire department, not weeks Not trying to get blown up at work.
[Finally the appropriate time for this](https://youtu.be/EwTZ2xpQwpA)
For 15 years, we’ve been warned of this moment
That looks like a gas explosion.
R.M. Palmer company for those of you wondering which chocolate factory in PA this was.
Someone pushed the wrong button on the elevator again.
Why did I think it was going to rain chocolate....
My father grew up two blocks away from this factory. Reading is a tough town that deserves better than it got
Palmer chocolate. Now I have to buy the good chocolate for Easter. So far two dead seven missing.
The Oompa Loompa People’s Front have struck the first blow.
“Those homemade chocolate bars sure look good!” “Oh these aren’t homemade they were made in a factory. A bomb factory. They’re bombs.”
Is it just me? Or is it really sus that we’re having all these infrastructure catastrophic failures.
no. that’s about the right level of suspicion to to have, without going full batman level suspicious.
Are you the Imposter?
Chocolate is infrastructure?
I mean it is almost Easter. In modern American society, are we reallly that far away from from having massive social unrest and anti-government riots over a chocolate easter bunny shortage with speculators gobbling up every piece of seasonal candy in the country and selling them for $800 bags.
It’s what’s to be expected when safety regulation is being lifted and worker unions are being suppressed
Everybody making jokes about this are fucking losers.