The operator of a front-end loader was seriously burned while dumping scrap metal into an aluminum recycling furnace that exploded earlyTuesday in Rosemount.
An ice or snow chunk apparently was in the metal dumped from the loader bucket through an opening into the furnace at Spectro Alloys, at 13223 Doyle Path, said Rosemount Fire Chief Scott Aker. The chunk expanded rapidly and blew up, spraying molten aluminum out the 6-by-12-foot opening over the loader for about 30 feet, Aker said.
He said the loader bucket and its inch-thick windshield offered some protection, and the machine was seriously damaged. The man was driven by co-workers to an Apple Valley clinic, which sent him to the burn center at Regions Hospital in St. Paul, Aker said. He didn't know the man's name or condition.
Aker said Spectro has had similar incidents in the past. He said the company had current permits to operate. Nobody else was injured in the explosion, reported at 12:37 a.m.
A Regions spokeswoman said she couldn't release the victim's condition without a name.
JIM ADAMS
