Steel Mills
Two Fatalities at US Steel Fairfield
Written by Sandy Williams
September 23, 2014
An explosion at US Steel Fairfield on Sunday evening resulted in the death of two worker and the severe injury of another. US Steel security and paramedics responded to the incident. Edward Lamar Bryant, 53, was pronounced dead on Sunday at UAB Hospital emergency room in Birmingham, Al. Leo Bridges and Mac Bedwell were transported to the Trauma and Burn Intensive Care Unit at UAB Hospital. Bridges died this morning after he was removed from life support. Bedwell remains in critical condition.
According to a statement below by U.S. Steel media spokesperson, Courtney Boone, the blast furnace continues to operate at the Fairfield Works facility in Birmingham, Alabama. The accident occurred on Sunday sometime before 5:00 p.m. at the Q-BOP, the vessel used to take the pig iron from the blast furnace and combine it with scrap in order to make molten steel. US Steel Fairfield has one BOP (or basic oxygen process or furnace) at the Fairfield mill and it is not totally understood what damages the mill suffered in the accident that claimed two lives and critically injured a third.
US Steel – UPDATED 9/22/14 4:30 pm EDT : “In the evening of Sunday, Sept. 21, there was an incident at U. S. Steel’s Fairfield Works’ Q-BOP in Birmingham which resulted in the injury of three employees. Following the incident the employees were transported to an area hospital where one employee has unfortunately died as the result of his injuries. An investigation into the incident is underway. The blast furnace operations continue. No further details are available at this time.”
US Steel Great Lakes Works suffered a fatality earlier this year when a crane being operated by a sub-contractor toppled during the repair of another BOP which had suffered an incident when a pipe fell through the roof. At that time, the BOP facility was down for a number of days pending an investigation and repairs to the roof.
Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Steel Mills
Nucor holds HR list price at $910/ton
Nucor is keeping its list price for spot hot-rolled coil unchanged after last week’s shortened holiday week.
Cliffs unveils new hydrogen-powered stainless line in Ohio
CEO Lourenco Goncalves, flanked by state leaders and union reps, touted the project as proof that US manufacturing is not only alive, but also advancing.
Cliffs idles Steelton, Riverdale, and Conshohocken operations
Cliffs has idled facilities in Riverdale, Ill., and Conshohocken and Steelton, Pa.
Radius loss narrows, volumes climb in ‘healthy’ West Coast market
Stronger steel demand in the Western US, rising scrap flows, and improved rolling mill utilization drove sequential gains for Portland, Ore.-based Radius Recycling.
AISI: Raw steel production backs off multi-year high
US raw steel output edged lower last week after hitting a multi-year high in mid-June, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI).