Fire extinguished after explosion at Santa Clara chemical plant

Santa Clara firefighters and police officers worked through the early evening to put out a three-alarm fire and explosion at a chemical facility in the northern part of the city, reports say.

No injuries were reported after the explosion about 4 p.m. at Air Products and Chemicals Inc. at 1515 Norman Avenue, according to officials.

Bay City News reports that the exact cause of the explosion and fire remains under investigation, but Battalion Chief Drew Miller said the explosion happened as plant workers were filling a big rig tanker with hydrogen gas.

Firefighters arrived to find the truck on fire, Miller said. The 45 firefighters took about an hour to put out the fire, which destroyed a tank trailer.

All workers at the facility, which manufactures industrial gases, were accounted for, according to Miller. Businesses in the light industrial area were evacuated.

Videos posted on social media showed smoke coming out of the facility and witnesses reported hearing a big explosion prior to seeing smoke, according to NBC Bay Area. 

“At first, we thought it was an earthquake,” Harry Nguyen, a business owner around the corner from the facility, told NBC Bay Area. He said his whole building “shook like hell.”