There was little lasting damage and no injuries after a small explosion at a chemical plant in Falls Township.
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Firefighters were dispatched to Gelest Inc. on South Steel Road around 5:45 p.m. Wednesday for an alarm system. The first arriving firefighters found that a 55-gallon drum had exploded and caused the building’s sprinkler system and foam system to go off, the Falls Township Fire Marshal’s Office said.
The drum had over-pressurized during a filling procedure and exploded. The explosion caused a small fire that was quickly put down by the company’s fire prevention systems, the fire marshal’s office said.
“The suppression system operated exactly as designed, and on site personnel responded immediately and shut down all systems,” the statement from the fire marshal’s office said.
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The incident remains under investigation.
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