AP reported that a tanker truck loaded with 6,000 gallons of hydrogen exploded and burned at a metals processing plant, burning the driver, injuring another worker and threatening an even larger storage tank.

The blast occurred after 6 PM on July 24th 2011 at the Duferco Farrell Corporation plant in Farrell, about 60 miles northwest of Pittsburgh near the Ohio border.

Mr Mike Hrycyk VP of HR at Duferco Farrell Corporation said that the truck from Air Liquide, a Houston based company that produces and distributes cryogenic liquids and gases, was at the plant offloading its hydrogen into a storage tank when the explosion occurred. The tanker then burned, endangering a storage tank that contained 12,000 to 14,000 gallons of hydrogen.

Mr Hrycyk said that plant workers and fire crews worked overnight to pour water on the storage tank until the tanker fire burned itself out. He could not release the names of the driver, who was taken to the burn unit of a hospital in Akron, with second degree burns, or the driver's helper, who suffered some cuts and was treated and released at nearby Sharon Hospital.

Mr Hrycyk said that plant workers were evacuated without incident and overnight production shifts were canceled. The plant reopened and was operating normally.

(Sourced from Associated Press)