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Show Gilsonite worker burned Jin processing plant fire A processing plant worker was .Really burned in an explosion day at the American Gilsonite Co. posing plant in Bonanza. I Mo Alfredo Paz, 21, Vernal, for- My of Chile, was working in the m rj s'fe of the new storage and pssing plant when the fire started. burned over about 45 percent of " body and was taken to the Ashley - Medical Center and flown by flight to the University of Utah ZLButn Center where he is iwed to be in critical condition, fording to Richard Dewey, manager "e Bonanza operations. said the accident occurred 10:30 p.m. Sunday, Another er, Stephen Trantham, Vernal, V aT? lniured-but was released from 'Ashley Valley Medical Center after 'ination. Eight or nine other men A ! were working in the plant at the time and were not injured, stated Dewey. According to Dewey, Paz was working in the drying area when some gilsonite dust ignited causing the explosion ex-plosion and fire. Vernal and Jensen fire departments responded to the fire but it was under control by the time they arrived. Dewey estimated damages to the plant to exceed $100,000 plus losses due to down-time. The plant has been closed and is undergoing inspection by federal and state inspectors. The cause of the explosion ex-plosion is still unknown, Dewey stated. American Gilsonite employs about 230 workers at the Bonanza operation. The new processing plant was built about two years ago to modernize the handling of gilsonite for marketing. |