Glynn County ambulances were speeding
up Interstate 95 Thursday night to aid rescue efforts at a sugar refinery blast
that rocked suburban Savannah.
“We have an ambulance on the way up
there now, and two more ambulances going up there. We are calling in people from
reserve so that we can maintain coverage in (Glynn) county,” Fire Chief Al
Thomas said at about 9 p.m.
“We also have a deputy chief
paramedic going up there as a liaison to determine what other (needs) we may
have.”
Glynn County Police Capt. Richard
Strickland, director of the county Emergency Management Agency, paged Thomas at
about 8:30 p.m. to alert him to the disaster.
Dozens of people were injured in the
explosion and fire at the plant, owned by Imperial Sugar, known as a longtime
Savannah landmark as the Dixie Crystals plant.
No deaths were reported immediately
from the blast that was felt by residents throughout the Savannah suburb of Port
Wentworth, but a witness described widespread damage.
“We have an unconfirmed number of
injuries, well over 50 to 100 at this point,” said Sgt. Mike Wilson, spokesman
for the Savannah-Chatham County police. He said the explosion happened at about
7 p.m.
There was no immediate word on what
caused it.
“There was fire all over the
building,” said Nakishya Hill, a machine operator who said she escaped from the
third floor of the refinery, near the Savannah River.
“All I know is, I heard a loud boom
and everything came down,” said Hill, who was uninjured except for blisters on
her elbow.
“When I got up, I went down and found
a couple of people and we climbed out of there from the third floor to the first
floor. Half of the floor was gone. The second floor was debris, the first floor
was debris.
“All I could do when I got down was
take off running,” she said.
Dr. Jay Goldstein, an emergency room
physician at Memorial University Medical Center, said there were 30 to 35
patients being treated, and all were in critical condition. Goldstein said no
more were expected by ambulance, but it was impossible to say how many would
arrive on their own.
At Candler Hospital, there were three
patients in serious condition.
A triage center was set up at Our
Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Port Wentworth, where Savannah-Chatham police
Maj. Gerry Long said 28 had been sent on to hospitals.
“They are still looking for and
bringing people out,” she said about 9:30 p.m.
Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Lynn said
the river was shut down to ship traffic from the port of Savannah while the
river was searched for possible victims. He said none had been reported and none
had been found, and there was no oil or other hazardous material in the water.
“It’s a large facility, and there is
still a significant amount of fire,” said Clayton Scott, assistant director of
Chatham County Emergency Management Agency. He described the refinery as
covering an area the size of a Super Wal-Mart.
Imperial Sugar, based in Sugar Land,
Texas, acquired Savannah Foods & Industries, the producer of Dixie Crystals, in
1997. The acquisition doubled the size of the company, making it the largest
processor and refiner of sugar in the United States, according to the company
Web site.
Imperial markets some of the
country’s leading consumer brands, Imperial, Dixie Crystals and Holly, as well
as supplying sugar and sweetener products to industrial food manufacturers.
