An explosion heard miles away sent a ball of fire over the historic Atlas Foundry Saturday afternoon, shutting down a major highway and cutting power to the city’s industrial area.

Four people were taken to a hospital - the driver of a propane truck and three employees of the foundry - after two propane tanks exploded around 3 p.m., said The News Tribune newspaper.

The driver of the propane truck was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where spokeswoman Susan Gregg-Hanson said he was in critical condition Saturday evening. The three other injured men were listed in stable condition at St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma.

Tacoma Deputy Fire Marshal Kevin O’Donnal said 50 firefighters had the two-alarm fire under control by early Saturday evening. The eastbound lanes of State Route 16 remained closed into the evening as state transportation officials waited for a safe time to send bridge inspectors to check a highway overpass.

An electrical substation was damaged in the blast, knocking out electricity to about 13,000 Tacoma Power customers, said utility spokeswoman Chris Gleason. All but 200 were back within an hour. The remaining customers could be without power for a while, Gleason added.

source: cbsnews

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