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BumRushDaShow

(158,623 posts)
Mon Aug 11, 2025, 12:30 PM Aug 11

Explosions at US Steel plant in Pennsylvania leave 1 dead, 1 missing, 10 injured

Last edited Mon Aug 11, 2025, 04:53 PM - Edit history (4)

Source: AP

Updated 4:36 PM EDT, August 11, 2025


CLAIRTON, Pa. (AP) — Explosions at a U.S. Steel plant that shook the ground near Pittsburgh left one dead and sent at least ten to hospitals Monday, with emergency workers still searching the badly charred rubble hours later for a missing worker, officials said.

One worker was pulled from the wreckage hours after the explosions sent black smoke spiraling into the midday sky in the Mon Valley, a region of the state synonymous with steel for more than a century. Allegheny County Emergency Services said a fire at the plant started around 10:51 a.m. A search and rescue effort was still active on Monday afternoon and officials said they had not isolated the cause of the blasts.

The explosions sent a shock through the community and led to officials asking residents to stay away from the scene so emergency workers could respond.

“It felt like thunder,” Zachary Buday, a construction worker near the scene, told WTAE-TV. “Shook the scaffold, shook my chest, and shook the building, and then when we saw the dark smoke coming up from the steel mill and put two and two together, and it’s like something bad happened.” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said via X that “multiple explosions” occurred at the facility.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/clairton-steel-pittsburgh-explosion-coke-f6f81a1d33f22741668d4d75dbc8eaf7



Short article at post time - just breaking. Lots of local news coverage in the Pittsburgh metro media.

Article now updated.

Previous updates/headlines -

Explosions at US Steel plant in Pennsylvania leave 1 dead and dozens hurt or trapped under rubble

Updated 1:48 PM EDT, August 11, 2025


An explosion at a U.S. Steel plant near Pittsburgh left one dead and dozens injured or trapped under the rubble Monday, with emergency workers on site trying to rescue victims, officials said. The explosion sent black smoke spiralling into the midday sky in the Monongahela Valley, a region of the state synonymous with steel for more than a century.

An Allegheny County emergency services spokesperson, Kasey Reigner, said one person died in the explosion and two were currently believed to be unaccounted for. Multiple other people were treated for injuries, Reigner said. Allegheny County Emergency Services said a fire at the plant started around 10:51 a.m. The explosion sent a shock through the community and led to officials asking residents to stay away from the scene so emergency workers could respond.

"It felt like thunder," Zachary Buday, a construction worker near the scene, told WTAE-TV. "Shook the scaffold, shook my chest, and shook the building, and then when we saw the dark smoke coming up from the steel mill and put two and two together, and it's like something bad happened."

Dozens were injured and the county was sending 15 ambulances, on top of the ambulances supplied by local emergency response agencies, Reigner said.


Explosion at US Steel plant in Pennsylvania leaves 1 dead, dozens hurt or trapped under rubble

Updated 1:48 PM EDT, August 11, 2025


An explosion at a U.S. Steel plant near Pittsburgh left one dead and dozens injured or trapped under the rubble Monday, with emergency workers on site trying to rescue victims, officials said. The explosion sent black smoke spiralling into the midday sky in the Monongahela Valley, a region of the state synonymous with steel for more than a century.

An Allegheny County emergency services spokesperson, Kasey Reigner, said one person died in the explosion and two were currently believed to be unaccounted for. Multiple other people were treated for injuries, Reigner said. Allegheny County Emergency Services said a fire at the plant started around 10:51 a.m. The explosion sent a shock through the community and led to officials asking residents to stay away from the scene so emergency workers could respond.

"It felt like thunder," Zachary Buday, a construction worker near the scene, told WTAE-TV. "Shook the scaffold, shook my chest, and shook the building, and then when we saw the dark smoke coming up from the steel mill and put two and two together, and it's like something bad happened."

Dozens were injured and the county was sending 15 ambulances, on top of the ambulances supplied by local emergency response agencies, Reigner said.



Explosion at US Steel plant in Pennsylvania leaves dozens hurt and people trapped under rubble

Updated 12:50 PM EDT, August 11, 2025


An explosion Monday at a U.S. Steel plant near Pittsburgh has left dozens wounded and people trapped under the rubble, with emergency workers on site trying to rescue them, officials said. There are no confirmed fatalities at the Clairton Coke Works, said Abigail Gardner, director of communications for Allegheny County.

The Allegheny County Emergency Services said a fire at the plant started around 10:51 a.m. and that it has transported five people. The agency did not provide any more details on those people transported and would only say it was an "active scene."

The plant, a massive industrial facility along the Monongahela River south of Pittsburgh, is considered the largest coking operation in North America and is one of four major U.S. Steel plants in Pennsylvania that employ several thousand workers.

In June, U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel announced they had finalized a "historic partnership," a deal that gives the U.S. government a say in some matters and comes a year and a half after the Japanese company first proposed its nearly $15 billion buyout of the iconic American steelmaker.



Original article/headline -

Explosion at US Steel plant in Pennsylvania leaves people trapped under rubble

Updated 12:19 PM EDT, August 11, 2025


CLAIRTON, Pa. (AP) -- An explosion Monday at a U.S. Steel plant near Pittsburgh has left people trapped under the rubble, with emergency workers on site trying to rescue them, an official said.

There are no confirmed fatalities yet at the Clairton Coke Works, said Abigail Gardner, director of communications for Allegheny County.

The Allegheny County Emergency Services said a fire at the plant started around 10:51 a.m. and that it has transported five people. The agency did not provide any more details on those people transported and would only say it was an "active scene."

The Clairton Coke Works, a massive industrial facility along the Monongahela River south of Pittsburgh, is considered the largest coking operation in North America.

6 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Explosions at US Steel plant in Pennsylvania leave 1 dead, 1 missing, 10 injured (Original Post) BumRushDaShow Aug 11 OP
As if Steele plants need more bad news Baitball Blogger Aug 11 #1
Link to Post-Gazette live thread nitpicked Aug 11 #2
Thanks! BumRushDaShow Aug 11 #3
Another day in the hellscape brought to us by the GOP, Fox, Limbaugh, the Heritage Foundation, the list goes on. Initech Aug 11 #4
Steel mills have some risk. Igel Aug 12 #6
But hey. Clearly no need for OSHA right? LearnedHand Aug 11 #5

BumRushDaShow

(158,623 posts)
3. Thanks!
Mon Aug 11, 2025, 01:44 PM
Aug 11

A bunch of the local media are doing the reporting via "Live Updates" which I can't post in LBN.

I had been checking this - https://www.wtae.com/article/us-steel-clairton-plant-explosion/65654312




Governor Josh Shapiro
@GovernorShapiro
My Administration is in touch with local officials in Clairton, PA as they respond to an explosion at US Steel Clairton Coke Works plant this morning.

@PEMAHQ
and @PAStatePolice
are in touch with first responders and have offered all assistance.

The scene is still active, and folks nearby should follow the direction of local authorities. Please join Lori and me in praying for the Clairton community.
11:59 AM · Aug 11, 2025


Initech

(106,095 posts)
4. Another day in the hellscape brought to us by the GOP, Fox, Limbaugh, the Heritage Foundation, the list goes on.
Mon Aug 11, 2025, 02:50 PM
Aug 11

Igel

(37,070 posts)
6. Steel mills have some risk.
Tue Aug 12, 2025, 07:40 PM
Aug 12

Many jobs do.

Coke ovens are hot, release methane and CO in a combination that's quite combustible.

Get too close to a soaking pit and fall in, by the time they raise the alarm you're dead and charring.

The steel mill my parents and friends' parents worked at had a kind of cemetery with tombstones If a man (they were men as of the last I heard) had died by being splashed by steel from a pour or had fallen into the open hearth they'd cast an ingot, stamp his name and vitals on it, and set it out with the others. It didn't happen often, but it happened. A small portion of the elements that composed the man's body would still be dissolved in the now-frozen steel. (When the steel mill was wiped off the face of the Earth, I don't know what happened to the ingots. Moved to another location? Sold for their metal? Dropped in the Bay? Dunno.)

It was different if there was a death at the rod or rolling mills. There the body would be pretty beat up, but still be a body.

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