Cause Of Danvers Blast Released

BOSTON -- A lack of safeguards led to an explosion at a chemical plant that rocked a Danvers neighborhood in 2006, according to a federal report released Tuesday.

NewsCenter 5's Gail Huff reported that the U.S. Chemical Safety Board Tuesday released its final report into the investigation of the Nov. 22, 2006 explosion at the CAI Chemical Co. According to the report, solvent vapors accumulated and exploded when an ink-mixing tank was left heating overnight.

VIDEO: Cause Of Blast Released

About 12,000 pounds of solvents were left cooking for eight hours. The operations manager left the steam valve on overnight. The exhaust fans and ventilator were turned off because neighbors had complained about the noise.

The continued heating of the tank contents caused the flammable liquid to boil and release flammable vapor into the unventilated building, according to the report. The building's heating fans remained on, likely helping to distribute the vapor. At 2:46 a.m., the vapor reached an undetermined ignition source, possibly an automatic heater switch or other electrical source, and exploded.

CAI and Arnel Paint were destroyed. More than a dozen homes were also destroyed, and 300 people were displaced. The board recommended legislators change the laws to keep pace with the chemical engineering industry.

"Massachusetts has not adopted the most current national fire codes for flammable liquids," said John Vorderbrueggen, an investigation supervisor.

CAI and Arnel had not been inspected since 2002.

"There were some omissions. You know, both on the local level and the state level, and I think that you have to move to correct those," Danvers Fire Department Chief Jim Tutko said.