Four Wright-Malta Corp. workers were airlifted to Westchester Medical Center's burn unit Monday after they suffered serious injuries in a large industrial explosion near heavily populated Luther Forest, State Police said.
David R. Wilt of Round Lake, Paul A. Siwicki of Ballston Spa, Stephen J. Comorski of Mechanicville and Gerald J. Skiff of Buskirk suffered second- and third-degree burns from the 3:50 p.m. blast, which occurred at the facility off Hermes Road where systems are produced to reduce noise resulting from the testing of large-caliber cannons.
Their conditions were not immediately available late Monday. But one worker, who was not identified, received burns on 80 percent of his body, police said. Another broke his leg trying to escape the explosion, Lt. Steven James said.
The ages of the injured were not released, but ranged from 48 to 68, he said.
The employees were trying to dismantle scrap metal and a steel pipe with a torch when the flame unexpectedly struck a flammable substance, possibly wood grain alcohol residue, James said.
"It ignited and exploded. A plume of smoke probably went up 30 feet from the structure," James said.
At least three helicopters were called in to airlift the burn victims directly to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, where they were admitted late Monday afternoon.
Monday's blast had nothing to do with the testing of military ordnance, James said. Terrorism has been ruled out, said Ed Tremblay, Saratoga County fire coordinator.
About a dozen people work at Wright-Malta. The facility is located at the former Malta Rocket Test Site, east of Northway Exit 12, which was established in the 1950s by General Electric Co. when rocket engines were tested for the armed forces.
Town officials activated the communications portion of the town's emergency response plan when they heard initial reports of the explosion. They were worried that they might have to order an evacuation of the nearby Luther Forest subdivisions, where about one-third of the town's 13,000 residents live.
"It was a concern. Some other kinds of explosion, you might have to evacuate," Supervisor David R. Meager said.
Meager anticipated residents to raise questions about the explosion when the Town Board votes tonight on the rezoning for the proposed Luther Forest Technology Campus, which would be home to up to four computer chip factories. The Saratoga Economic Development Corp. is purchasing the Wright-Malta property to create the 1,350-acre technology campus.
The Coalition for Responsible Growth, a local group fighting the proposal to lure chip manufacturers, issued a written statement Monday "calling on the officials of the town of Malta to postpone the vote on the Luther Forest factory complex so that we can get a better understanding of the magnitude of the accident that occurred."
"Understanding the risks we can face and what went wrong before they take the steps to approve a project ... could be equally if not far more disastrous than this incident," said the statement from Linda Cepiel and Andrea Austin, spokeswomen for the group.
The vote is slated for 7 tonight at the Malta Community Center.
Wright-Malta owns about 165 acres that it purchased from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. The company was founded by former GE rocket scientists and engineers. The firm is led by Raymond Kazyaka Sr., the company president. Kazyaka could not be reached for comment late Monday.
Wright-Malta's site includes a small office building, a warehouse, several military-style huts and an old rocket tower.
Company officials refused to comment on the blast when leaving the scene of the accident on Monday. One man, using a key, closed the gate to the facility on several reporters before speeding off on a motorcycle.
Criminal charges related to the explosion are unlikely, but an investigation into the substance that caught fire is under way, James said. He said part of the inquiry will be to ensure there are no other potential accidents at the site.
The federal Occupational and Safety Administration was at the scene of the accident Monday night to check on workplace safety at Wright-Malta, James said.
The victims were working to replace a partially dismantled old metal structure built in the 1940s or 1950s when the blast occurred, James said.
Emergency personnel from Saratoga County, Malta, Round Lake and Ballston Spa responded to the scene. It was believed to be the first industrial accident at the site ever, Tremblay said.
The Wright-Malta Web site describes the site: "The Wright-Malta test site ... was originally constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the 1940s as a rocket engine test facility. It has since evolved into a state-of-the-art facility specializing in the testing of weapons from small arms to large-caliber artillery and tank guns and structural-integrity testing for customers such as the U.S. Army, G.E. Ordnance, Martin Marietta, General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin Corporation."
The company has done testing in conjunction with GE and the Watervliet Arsenal.
A top-level security clearance is needed to access much of the Wright-Malta site, said Paula Rosenberg, a spokeswoman for NYSERDA. NYSERDA owns the property bordering Wright-Malta on the north.
"We know a lot of those people down there. We're sick to our stomachs," Rosenberg said.
