Boilermaker describes fear, chaos during fiery Saint John refinery explosion

A boilermaker from Nova Scotiasays he was rattled by the fiery explosion at the Irving Oil refinery in Saint John where he was working, but is ready to return when called, which could happen as early as today.

Some of the contractors working on theturnaround maintenance projectwere back on site Tuesday night. The cause of the blast that sent at least five people to hospital still hasn't been determined and a WorkSafeNBinvestigation is expected to take a few months to complete.

Terry MacEachern, who has been a boilermaker for 16 years andis a member of theInternational Brotherhood of Boilermakers Lodge 146 in Alberta, saidhe was surprised to hear they were called back so soon.

Boilermaker describes refinery explosion

6 years ago

Duration 1:31

Boilermaker Terry MacEachern was rattled by Monday's blast at Irving Oil facility, but is ready to return to the job.

"I know alot ofpeopleare still [shaken]up by it and Ithink that there might be a few peoplethat probably justaren'tcoming back."

He saidthe blast caused chaos and was scary, pushing some workers into "panic mode."

At first, it just sounded like a crane had dropped a loadof steel and "everyone just kind of paused and looked at each other," wondering what had happened.

Then all of a sudden, "therewas like asonic boom."

MacEachern,36,who was about 180 metres from the origin of the blast, says theshockwave knocked him back a step. Other workers who were closer were "flung" three metresacross the ground.

When you're seeing 280-poundguys keeping up with you, you know it's go time.- TerryMacEachern, boilermaker

"You could feel it literally right through your body.It was pretty intense."

A black mushroom cloud filled the sky and flames shot 30 metres high.

People were "sliding" down scaffolding andyelling, "Run, run run."

"Not knowing whetherthe rest of the plant is goingto blow up or not, it's kind of a scary moment," said MacEachern.

"When you're seeing 280-poundguys keeping up with you, you know it's go time."

Despite the fear, everyone knew where to go and were quickly accounted for, said MacEachern, who is from Antigonish and has also worked in Newfoundland.He credited Irving Oil'sdetailed emergency plan, whichincludesa secondary muster point, and the professionalism of everyone involved from management andunion officials, to his co-workersand the firefighters he describesas lifesaving heroes.

"They had some backbone to go into 160-foot [nearly 49-metre] flames in a live plant," he marvelled. "It's like someone standing with a match in a puddle of gas and saying, 'Please don't drop that. We're all standing in the puddle with you.'"

The Irving Oil facility is the largest refinery in Canada. It employs about 1,400 people and is capable of producing more than 320,000 barrels per dayat the sprawling site, which covers more than 300 hectares.

Close to 3,000 people were working at the time of the explosion over the Thanksgiving holiday.About 100 of themwere the normal operations crew, while the rest were tradespeople on aturnaround project, officials said.

Number injured 'seems to be growing'

Fire at Saint John refinery

6 years ago

Duration 0:32

Irving Oil says a "major incident" has occurred at its Saint John refinery, after reports of an explosion and fire on Monday morning.

Five people were treated at the Saint John Regional Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries on Monday, the Horizon Health Network has said.

But "the number seems to be growing," WorkSafeNB's assistant director of investigations Eric Brideausaid Wednesday, after visiting the site Tuesday and meeting with employees.

Brideausaid he could not confirm the total number of workers injured.

Irving Oil and Saint John Emergency Measures Organization (EMO) officials have previously said four workers were treated in hospital for minor injuries.

Timing helped saved lives

MacEachern,who escaped injury, saidthe timing of the explosion was "crucial" to the casualties not being much worse.

Because it hit around 10:15 a.m. AT, right before their lunch break, many workers were already climbing down from the towering pressure vessels, he said.

Just five minutes earlier, they could have still been some 40 metres in the air, working right beside the blast Irving Oil believes originated in the diesel-treating unit, he said.

Five minuteslater, and up to 400 workers could have been walking across an exposed crosswalk, just45 or 55 metres away from the explosion.

MacEachern saidhe didn't sleep well Monday night, replaying the events in his head.

"I've been througha lotofthingsbut I mean, you neverreally expect something this big to happen, the magnitude. I'm justglad that peoplewalked awayfrom it."

He saidhe thought it would be at least a couple of days before any work would resume, but he's comfortable about going back.

"I'msure the Irvingfamily would never put us into a situation that they'd put us in danger.

"They wouldn't let us back into a refinery that they didn't feel was safe."

WorkSafeNBmay need outside help

WorkSafeNBbegan itsonsite investigation into occupational health and safety issuesTuesday afternoon, but for safety reasons, the closest investigators could get to the blast origin was about 45 metres away, said Brideau.

"Obviously the site is still what the employer is considering a hot zone,so it's still unsafe for us to attend," he said, referring to possible residual hydrocarbons in the diesel-treating unit that Irving Oil officials believe malfunctioned.

The last"flare-up," or reignition, occurred around 9 p.m. Monday, according to the Saint John EMO.

A crane that was heavily damaged in the explosion and subsequent fire could also pose a danger until it's disassembled, said Brideau.

Even Irving Oil officials haven't been able to inspect the unit yet, he said

"They believe it was a mechanical failure but it's just a theory at this point."

The unit removes sulphur from diesel.

Irving Oil said Tuesday morning"the refinery as a whole is safe and the specific site of the incident is isolated and contained."

Brideausaid he met with Irving Oilofficials to gather somedocumentation and timeline information about the incident and the "somewhat complex" refiningprocess.

"One piece of the investigationisto understand that complexity and we will need obviously some assistance in that area," possibly from a WorkSafeNB engineer or others outside the organization, he said.

"At this point we have almost everybody in the team involved in some capacity."

It's difficult to estimate how long the investigation will take, said Brideau.

"This one, I believe, it's a technical and complex investigation we're talking months here. At least two, three months until it's finalized."