Two people were injured and 150 were evacuated when an early-morning fire swept through Meridian Magnesium’s 208,000-square-foot automotive manufacturing facility in Eaton Rapids, MI on May 2. The fire, which began close to a shift change around 1:30 a.m., touched off a series of explosions one of which blew a portion of the roof off of the plant located at 2001 Industrial Drive on M-99.
Roger Pease said his son were the injured employees. One of them suffered a laceration injury, the other sustained a shoulder injury. They were transported to an area hospital for treatment and released the following morning. Pease, who declined to give his son’s first name when talking with the Lansing State Journal told the paper: “The first explosion knocked him down and the second one blew him through the doors outside.”
History of Safety Violations
Meridian has been cited by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for seven violations since 2014. Details on some of the violations were not clear, but some were for the improper control of hazardous energy, failure to service and maintain equipment and improper wiring, components and equipment.
“I would’ve assumed it would’ve blown up three years ago,” a former employee told FOX47.
That employee said the inside of the plant was dirty, that soot covered the walls, that the floors were slippery from debris that was not cleaned up and that employees were not properly trained.
And there have been other fires. Inside and outside the plant.
“Every time there was a fire they told you to get back to work. It wasn’t about your health or if you were okay, it was all about the parts, and how much you can produce and how fast you can produce them,” the former employee told FOX47.
On March 31, a semi-trailer parked outside the facility burst into flames. A neighbor posted the video below.
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