Explosions this morning at a Danvers chemical plant sent nearby residents scrambling for their lives amidst shattering glass and collapsing roofs.
Firefighters battle a massive fire this morning in Danvers at CAI Inc. No one was reported killed. (Staff photo by Jim Mahoney)
The 2:50 a.m. explosions and fire at CAI Inc. in the Danversport neighborhood sent neary a dozen people to the hospital. Firefighters who conducted a door-to-door search had discovered no fatalities or victims with serious injuries.
Philip Cormier, the chief operating officer of Beverly Hospital, said the hospital treated "fewer than 10 patients."
"With the exception of chest pains, we don’t have anybody who’s seriously injured," he said.
Residents with homes on Bates and Riverside streets bore the brunt of the blast, with several homes knocked from their foundations, the roofs collapsed and windows shattered.
“It looked like a bomb hit,” said Daryl Parker, 64, who — with his wife and three daughters - was asleep in his Riverside Street home at the time of the blasts.
Parker and his family quickly dressed and ran from their home and began checking on their neighbors. One neighbor, Bob Joyce, was watching television in his living room on Bates Street when the roof collapsed on top of him.
Parker said that while Joyce was stunned and shaken, he was not seriously injured.
“It’s a miracle.” Parker said.
Shannon Parker, 22, Daryl’s oldest daughter, said it felt like her home had been picked up and dropped.
“It was a huge impact, she said. “Pictures were knocked off the wall. As soon as you went out the front door you saw glass and all the windows blown out all over the neighborhood.”
Shannon, her two sisters and her mother jumped into the family car while her father stayed behind to help firefighters in a frantic search for victims of the explosion.
While in their car, the fire grew worse. Additional explosions followed.
“There was another explosion. I said ‘We need to get out of here,’" Shannon Parker said. “The fire was spreading. It was over the trees and over the houses. It wasn’t just one explosion, it was multiple explosions.
Firefighters said six people were working the Danversport Bakery and Coffee Shop on Route 35 near the plant at the time of the explosion. They were baking pastries for the morning rush. Firefighters said all six were hurt, but none suffered life-threatening injuries.
The firefighters said more injured were taken from homes ravaged on Bates street. With no confirmed fatalities, firefighters turned the search to an apartment above the bakery, where a man was reported living.
As for the plant, it laid in a twisted metal heap this morning with smoke still rising from the debris.
Damage from the blast extended at least 200 yards away to the New England Home for the Deaf, where more than 40 residents were evacuated. The explosion shattered every window and ripped screens from their fixtures in the multi-unit building. Debris littered the ground.
Fred Grenier, 25, was asleep in a rear, second-floor bedroom with his girlfriend, Trisha Lynch, 22, about 200 yards from CAI Inc. when the explosion woke him up.
"The windows came caving in. The AC fell right on me," he said.
His girlfriend’s sister, Jennifer Lynch, was asleep in a bedroom that faced the plant and needed stitches for cuts on her face, Grenier said.
"There were windows gone, doors gone, vinyl siding off the houses," Grenier said, describing the scene when he went outside.
Electricity was knocked out. "Everyone was out in the street making sure everybody’s all right," he said. "When you went out on the front porch, you could feel the heat."
The fire had been contained by 6 a.m. and firefighters planned on letting the fire burn itself out, Tutko said. He said there was no risk of toxic fumes escaping into the air but some of the homes in the area are unlivable.
It was too early to speculate on the cause, he said, adding that he heard and felt the explosion at his home five miles away and thought it was thunder.
CAI Inc. makes solvents and inks.
The blast woke up resident across the area. Matt Sanidas, who lives on Spruce Street about two miles from the plant, felt the house shaking and heard the pots on his kitchen pot rack rattling when he was awakened.
“I first thought a car had hit the house, then I figured one of the neighbors houses had blown up,” he said. “We looked around and couldn’t see any fireballs or anything.”
As he looked out his bedroom window, he saw his neighbors also looking out of their homes trying to figure out what had happened.
State Police Maj. Kevin Kelly, who responded to the scene, said he felt the explosion at his home 21 miles away.
One witness told the AP that the explosion broke a window in his home and knocked some frames off the walls. He said when he looked out his window the "whole sky was flaming," and his first thought was that a plane had crashed.
Other neighbors told WBZ-AM radio that they thought there had been an earthquake, and one compared the scene to footage of the Blitz in London during World War II. One resident said the explosion knocked him out of his chair.
Buildings were silhouetted in orange flames and smoke and police are barring anyone from approaching the area, including people who have relatives who live near the facility.
People who live near the area, including residents of a facility for the deaf and a nursing home, were being evacuated to local schools.
Danvers canceled school for the day and area roads remained closed.
There is an Eastern Propane facility close to the CAI facility, but that was not the cause of the explosion, said company spokesman Jeff Taylor. He said all the company’s tanks are secure, although the property suffered some minor damage.
Yikes, just found out about that this after noon. I didn't feel anything in Boston and I was in a halfawake state at the time.
Posted by: Inspector
Felt it here in New Hampshire...Hats off to the police, fire, rescue and medical personnel who responded for what appears to be a great job. Thanks to God for the fact the residents had no serious injury. Any of our fellow emergency workers in need of anything as a result? Put out the word if so.
Posted by: CJIS
Holy crap it looks like it did alot of damage. Glad no one was hurt too bad.
Posted by: stm4710
I live a block away. No damage or injury my family and home.......Thank God.
I currently live about a mile away from this incident. It rattled the windows and set a few of the car alarms off in the neighborhood but thats it. Thank god no one was killed in this.
Posted by: US706
Woke me and the Mrs. right out of bed and we live in Newburyport
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