Workers narrowly escape explosion caused by illegally discarded trash, video shows
Ohio city officials are warning about the dangers of illegally discarded trash after two sanitation workers narrowly escaped an explosion during their shift.
A video shared on Facebook Jan. 30 by Whitehall city officials shows trash exploding in the faces of two local waste employees before it caught fire in the back of the truck.
One of the workers quickly extinguished the fire, the video shows.
Officials said the “very close call” was caused by an oxygen tank placed in a garbage can.
“I thought a house exploded when this happened!” a local resident who heard the blast commented on the video. “It sounded devastating.”
Kristi Dommes Barshney identified herself in a comment as the mother of one of the workers. “Just to give people an update. My son was the guy on the side. Both guys are doing okay. Obviously both were shook up, had some hearing loss and cuts,” Barshney said.
Oxygen tanks are considered household hazardous waste and must be disposed of separately from other trash that is bound for landfills.
Franklin County offers free household hazardous waste removal either through scheduled collection events or facility drop-offs, according to the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio.
Whitehall is an eastern suburb of Columbus.
