Several killed and multiple people suffer horrific burns during massive chemical implosion in Washington state

Several people have been killed, and others suffered horrific burns after an implosion at a chemical plant in Washington state.

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The blast was heard across Longview, about 50 miles north of Portland, Oregon, on Tuesday morning at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Company.

Officials say an 80,000-gallon vat that was about 60% full caused the devastation around 7:18 a.m., inflicting chemical burns and other critical injuries on several people. Officials later said the vat contained “white liquor,” a chemical combination of sodium hydroxide, sodium sulfide, and disodium carbonate.

They also confirmed that there were “fatalities related to the incident” without specifying a number, and that there were certain “individuals who remain unaccounted for.” The dead will not be identified until after family members are notified, officials added.

“Multiple people suffered chemical burns and other injuries and were transported by ambulance to PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center in Longview and PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver. The extent of the injuries is not fully known at this time,” the Longview Fire Department wrote on Facebook. It’s unclear how severe the injuries are.

Officials said there were 10 injuries, including one to a firefighter who responded to the scene.

There is no immediate threat to the public, officials said. Nippon Dynawave Packaging Facility is a paper mill with 550 employees that makes “around 280,000 tons of bleached liquid packaging paperboard, and wetlap and slush pulp” each year, according to the Washington State Department of Ecology.

The company says its products “are converted into 8 billion single-serve containers per year.”

A fire crew and hazmat team are on site at the mill “to mitigate the product and container involved.”

The Washington implosion prompted a response from five fire engines, seven ambulances, and the hazmat team. Residents were previously told to stay away from the site of the implosion.

A multi-day fire broke out at the same paper mill in 2023, according to KCBY.

The implosion comes as Orange County deals with an ongoing chemical tank crisis that forced thousands of residents to evacuate.

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Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in the county as a chemical tank containing thousands of gallons of methyl methacrylate uncontrollably heated up, before officials were able to halt the temperature climb.

Officials at one point planned for a large blast radius and a huge chemical spread before the situation took a positive turn.

President Trump also granted a federal emergency declaration, unlocking assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Officials have cautioned that evacuation orders remain in effect as environmental and public health risks are still being monitored. Some residents have been allowed to return home as the evacuation radius has been narrowed.

More than 785 state and local emergency personnel have been mobilized during the response, including firefighters, hazardous materials experts, environmental scientists, transportation crews, law enforcement officers, and public health officials working around the clock.

The company behind the tank, UK-based GKN Aerospace, is under intense scrutiny for the incident. It apologized for the “uncertainty” the incident caused and the “ongoing disruption” to the community.

Orange County Rep. Derek Tran has called for a “deep investigation” into the company, and several law firms have said they will seek class-action suits to compensate victims.

A Nippon Dynawave Packaging Facility employee told The California Post that they had “no information” at that time to provide when contacted for comment.

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