Blast at Ohio Metals Plant Sends at Least 13 to Hospitals
Emergency crews were called to the I. Schumann & Co. copper alloy company in the Cleveland suburb of Oakwood Village shortly before 3 p.m. Monday. The blast shook the ground and scattered debris for a couple of hundred yards, damaging several vehicles, while the fire sent smoke billowing to the sky in a cloud visible for miles.
One person had to be pulled from the debris and was being treated while being taken to a medical helicopter. At least one patient was critical, and a number of people had burn injuries, but all plant staff had been accounted for and the fire was under control with crews mopping up hot spots, he said.
I. Schumann & Co. LLC, which calls itself a fourth-generation family-owned and managed business, “recycles and trades a wide variety of scrap and produces brass and bronze alloys in ingot and pellet forms,” the company said on its website.
