Federal Agency Investigating AERT Blaze

Name Released Of Fire Victim

SPRINGDALE — A federal agency is investigating the death of a worker from injuries suffered in a fire Wednesday.

Matthew Chwirka, an employee of Advanced Environmental Recycling Technologies, died Thursday at Mercy Hospital in Springfield, Mo., according to a news release from the company. The fire occurred at the AERT plant at 801 Jefferson St. in Springdale.

Roger Morris, Washington County coroner, identified Chwirka and said he would go to Springfield today to pick up Chwirka’s body. The bodies of all people who die in fires subject to Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigations must go to the State Crime Laboratory for autopsy, Morris said.

OSHA, a division of the U.S. Department of Labor, will conduct an investigation of the fire, said Juan Rodriguez, an agency spokesman in Dallas.

Chwirka and Howard Marshall, another fire victim, were first taken to Northwest Medical Center-

At A Glance

About OSHA

Congress created the Occupation Safety and Health Administration to assure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education and assistance.

Source: www.osha.gov

Springdale before being flown to Springfield, authorities said.

Marshall was in stable condition at the burn center, according to the release from AERT.

A third worker, who was also taken to Northwest, was treated and released Wednesday.

“Our greatest sympathy is with the family and friends of the employee who lost his life, and with those who sustained injuries,” said Tim Morrison, AERT’s president, in the news release. “We are providing support to families and associates to help them through this very difficult time.”

The blaze, reported at 2:32 p.m Wednesday, began as a flash fire, according to eyewitness Al Drinkwater, company senior vice president of development and governmental affairs. The cause of that fire has not been established, said Duane Miller, the city’s fire marshal.

Attempts by plant workers to extinguish sparks from that fire appeared to knock small particles of wood and plastic from the walls, Miller said. That caused another flash fire that expanded to the top of the building, he said.

Three employees were working on vents from the mixer in the top room of the plant, called the penthouse, said Kevin McDonald, assistant fire chief. The second flash fire burned the workers, he said.

Two of the workers were able to get down from the penthouse and evacuate out the front of the plant on their own, McDonald said. The third was taken outside to the roof of the plant then removed by firefighters, he said.

Excessive amounts of dust in the building contributed to the fire, Miller said.

“It was not necessarily the cause of the fire, but it did contribute,” Miller said.

Firefighters were instructed not to use direct streams of water to extinguish smoldering pockets for fear more dust would be dislodged and cause another flash fire, according to the fire report.

Firefighters remained on the scene until after 6 p.m. Wednesday extinguishing smoldering pockets of dust.

The facility was closed Thursday, according to the news release.

The Fire Department has responded to 18 fires at AERT since 2004, said Capt. David Kissinger, department spokesman. The company manufactures building material from recycled plastic and waste wood fiber.

Five to six of those were in the penthouse, the same as Wednesday’s fire, Miller said.

OSHA investigated AERT in 2009 and 2012, Rodriguez said. The company was cited for three serious violations of safety and two “other-than-serious” violations in 2009. Two of those were removed during an appeal, he said.

“The investigation can legally take up to six months,” Rodriguez said.

The size of any fines would depend on the severity of any violations, Rodriguez said.

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