Explosion at US hydrocarbon factory

March 23, 2013: Three of four workers injured in an explosion today at the Enviro-Safe Refrigerants bottling plant in Illinois are listed in serious condition, an official said.

The fourth is in fair condition. Two of the seriously injured, a 57-year-old woman and a 50-year-old man, were taken by LifeFlight helicopter to the burn unit at OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center, said a spokeswoman for OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria where they initially were sent.

The third, a 52-year-old man, remains at St. Francis along with a 45-year-old woman listed in fair condition, the spokeswoman said.

All four suffered burns “to various parts of their bodies,” she said, in the blast that erupted shortly after 3 p.m. at the plant at 100 Caroline St.

Enviro-Safe products are marketed as R-12a and R-22a for R-12 and R-22 retrofits respectively. They marketed as “cheap, easy to retrofit, not needing and oil change and environmentally safe”.