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Bedford, Ohio, located in the northern area of the state near Cleveland, is the site of a series of metal manufacturing plant explosions that has caused at least 13 injuries requiring medical attention at a local hospital.
As reported by local affiliate Fox 8 News in Cleveland, witnesses heard a loud “boom” followed by fire and a large plume of smoke coming from the building. From the ground, debris could be seen “scattered hundreds of yards away and a large chunk of the building is missing. Some of the nearby cars were caught on fire as well.” Firefighters subsequently brought the fire under control.
“The smoke billowing into the air could be seen for miles around the site and it was even caught on our weather radar for a while, but is starting to disperse into the atmosphere,” the report said.
“There has been reports of a smell of ‘Burning Oil’ in areas,” Broadview Heights Fire Department said on Facebook.
Witnesses told local News 5 that there were two explosions, a small one followed by a larger one around 2.30pm.
“I’m finishing my porkchop from Tasty Take-Outs, like I usually do … finished my porkchop … next thing you know—BOOM. I looked over and it was just … boom. Ridiculous, I don’t know how nothing hit me,’” a witness told News 5.
“The Metal Fabrication plant is Schumann & Co. metal and paint plant they are producers of ‘high-quality ingots and pellets they work with multiple different [a]lloys,” the online video aggregator Raw Alerts reported.
“Schumann recycles and trades a wide variety of scrap and produces brass and bronze alloys in ingot and pellet forms,” the company states on LinkedIn.
“Through continuous improvement, Schumann maintains an environmentally compliant and state-of-the-art facility,” the company adds. “Safety and environmental stewardship provide direction for ingot making, recycling and scrap processing on-site. The company stocks a full-range of copper alloys and offers solutions for today’s dynamic marketplace.”
The Norfolk Southern train derailment on February 3rd that led to an ecological disaster ran through Cleveland and was heading southeast towards Conway, Pennsylvania. East Palestine, Ohio, considered to be the hot spot for the toxic chemical spill zone, is located about an hour and fifteen minutes southeast of Bedford, Ohio.
