Blast rocks 'The Rouge'

Emergency personnel work at the Ford River Rouge Complex as smoke and steam billow after an explosion and fire rocked the generating station for the huge Ford Motor Co. plant Feb 1 in Dearborn, Michigan. AP photo

By Chris McKie

DEARBORN, Mich. - In one of the worst disasters in Ford Motor Co. history, one worker died, more than 100 were injured and 22 others hospitalized in critical or serious condition when an explosion and fire erupted in the power plant at the huge Ford Rouge complex here.

The blast occurred at approximately 1 p.m. on Feb. 1 and immediately knocked out power in the entire Rouge complex. The cause is still unknown.

Donald Turner, 56, of Redford Township was killed instantly when the boiler he was working on exploded. Turner, the father of six, had worked at the Rouge for 35 years.

At least six others working on the boiler were severely injured with burns over 95 percent of their bodies. It is estimated that 22 workers were taken to several area hospitals and placed in the burn units. Many are on life-support systems.

The explosion in the coal-fired power plant that sits in the front of the Rouge complex was so powerful that it blew the roof off the plant. Within minutes firemen from the Ford Rouge fire department as well as the Dearborn and Detroit fire departments arrived to evacuate the injured.

Their quick response and skill were credited with preventing a much worse disaster. Nevertheless, the scene in front of the Rouge on Miller Road and at the Auto Workers Local 600 hall was chaotic and emotion-filled.

Members of the United Auto Workers Local 600 gather outside their union hall near the Ford Motor Co. River Rouge Complex to hear the lastest news regarding the explosion. AP photo

Workers from the power plant were coming over to the hall trying to find out who had made it out and who was hurt. Many had barely escaped themselves, and their clothes and faces were covered with dirt and soot.

Some drove their cars with the rear or front windshields blown out. Others had suffered minor cuts and abrasions from crawling out of the building on their hands and knees and dodging falling debris. Many, too, were just scared stiff.

Family members from all over the Rouge area were coming down to find out about their relatives. Jerry Sullivan, president of Local 600, said he hadn't seen anything "this bad" since his days in Vietnam.

There has been a tremendous outpouring of concern and solidarity for those who were killed or injured. The Red Cross announced that an additional 100 pints of blood a day were needed to care for those hospitalized.

Local 600 set up a blood drive at its hall. By noon Wednesday they were asking people not to come down then because of the overwhelming response of union members and people from the community.

In Ann Arbor, where nine of the burn victims are hospitalized at the University of Michigan Medical Center, families were put up at area hotels free of charge and shuttled to and from the hospital. Teams of grief counselors were set up to help those suffering emotional trauma.

Workers in the other parts of the Rouge were also affected. Included in the Rouge is a steel mill, an assembly plant that makes the Mustang, a frame plant, a stamping plant, a glass plant, an engine and fuel tank plant and a huge tool and die plant with over 1,000 workers.

Workers on the Mustang assembly line simply had the power and lights go out with no notice and without any backup lighting system. They had to leave the plant in pitch black darkness, escorted by skilled tradesmen who happened to have flashlights. In the engine plant, small battery-operated lights allowed workers to see their way out.

In the steel mill, a continuous caster proved to be not so continuous. Most production workers were off the job at least Tuesday and Wednesday, while some skilled workers were called in to make the plant ready for production. Detroit Edison was bringing in huge portable generators in an effort to try and get the stamping plant up and running, but no one really has any idea when the power plant itself will be on line again.

The power plant generates enough power to supply a city the size of Boston. It was built in 1918 when Henry Ford built the giant Rouge complex as his model of mass production of automobiles.

Located on the Rouge River, Ford bragged that he could bring in coal, iron ore, rubber and other raw materials on one side and turn out cars on the other.

At one time it was the largest manufacturing facility in the world, employing 100,000 workers in the late 1940s. It presently has about 10,000 workers.

The UAW tried for many years to organize "the Rouge" but was met with fierce resistance by Henry Ford, who employed over 5,000 goons and spies to keep the union out. It was finally unionized in 1941 after a two-week strike forced an election that the union overwhelmingly won. Local 600 has long been recognized as one of the most progressive unions in the labor movement.

Chris McKie works at Ford's River Rouge plant.