Refinery pipe blast damages 10 homes

WOODS CROSS, Utah, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- A Utah petroleum refinery pipe undergoing maintenance broke, spewing 800-degree hydrogen toward an adjacent neighborhood, investigators said.

The 10-inch pipe separated, causing hundreds of pounds of pressurized hydrogen to be forced into a furnace and become ignited at Silver Eagle Refining in Woods Cross, Utah, The Salt Lake Tribune reported Saturday.

The result was a fireball that burst onto homes in a Woods Cross neighborhood. Donald Holmstrom, U.S. Chemical Safety Board investigations supervisor, said.

While there were no injuries, 10 houses suffered severe damage and one was blown off its foundation, the newspaper reported.

The pipe usually carries diesel and hydrogen but the refinery was performing maintenance at the time of the failure and only hydrogen was in the pipe, Holmstrom said.

Holmstrom said the safety board will test the remains of the pipe to try to determine the cause of the "catastrophic failure," and to find whether the refinery had conducted appropriate monitoring.

"I can assure the people who live around this area that we will do a thorough investigation," Holmstrom said.