According to wire-service reports, an explosion at Tec-Cast Inc. in Carlstadt, NJ, killed one worker and injured nine others, Tuesday, January 15. The reports detail that, according to a police spokesman, workers were fixing a furnace door shortly after 8:00 a.m. local time when air pressure that had built up within the vessel exploded. The workers were sprayed with bits of metal, according to the spokesman.
Tec-Cast is an aluminum investment caster that produces tools, molds, and fixtures, and offers casting, heat treating, CNC machining, and non-destructive testing. Its customers include aerospace, military, and commercial industrial companies.
Mario Gomez, a 61-year-old maintenance supervisor from Jersey City, NJ, was killed when the explosion blew the door off the furnace, the Associated Press reports. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Three other workers are reported to be in critical condition. About 45 people were in the building at the time of the explosion, according to the police.