Two die in factory
By John Joyce
Published in News on December 1, 2015 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Firefighters reach for equipment while responding to an accident at SPX Transformer Solutions that resulted in the deaths of two workers and one being seriously injured.
Two SPX Transformer Solutions employees died and another worker was seriously injured in an industrial accident late Monday while working on a transformer at the plant on U.S. 117 South.
The accident remains under investigation.
Maj. Tom Effler of the Wayne County Sheriff's Office said the men were working on a transformer when "some type of accident" took place.
"One guy went in and became unresponsive. Another guy went in and he then became unresponsive. And the third guy went in -- trying to save them -- and he became unresponsive," Effler said.
The Sheriff's Office released the names of the victims this morning.
Dennis Martin, 51, of Goldsboro, and Daniel Craig Anderson, 33, of Dudley, were killed in the accident. William Sariak, 40, of Dudley, remains in critical condition at Wayne Memorial Hospital.
Members of the Mar-Mac and Thoroughfare Volunteer fire departments were dispatched at about 6 p.m. Monday, along with Wayne County EMS and the Wayne County Sheriff's Office. The Goldsboro Fire Department was called in a short time later to assist with the operation.
Goldsboro Assistant Fire Chief Eric Lancaster said Goldsboro's assistance was requested by Mar-Mac to help conduct a confined space rescue operation.
"We have a confined space team, so we dispatched Engine 2, Engine 4 and Ladder 1 from Goldsboro," Lancaster said.
Confined space rescue efforts like the one conducted Monday at SPX are governed by federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards, he said. Firefighters had to ensure they were operating within those standards as they worked to get close to and recover the men trapped in the confined workspace inside the SPX building.
The N.C. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Division is conducting an investigation into what led to the fatal accident. Phone calls to the N.C. DOL public relations office were not returned by press time.
Goldsboro Fire Chief Gary Whaley said the exact cause of death has yet to be determined and will likely not be made official until autopsies are conducted at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Raleigh.
"We're not sure at this point, everything is speculation," Whaley said.
The three men were working on a large transformer assembly, which is dropped into two tanks with a lot of components in it, he said. It is unclear at this point which of the three men went in first and became unresponsive. The other two men went in, one after the other, to try to pull the first victim out, Whaley said.
"The transformers are filled with a cooling oil, that oil had been drained out and there were no toxic chemicals present," he said. Somehow -- and it is not yet clear whether the measure is part of the procedure used in assembling transformers or if it has to do with what went wrong -- but the space the men were working in became oxygen deprived, he said.
"We're not sure what displaced the oxygen," Whaley said.
Before rescuers moved in, equipment was used to monitor the air quality of the confined space in which the three victims were trapped, he said. The area was then ventilated before firefighters went in.
"It was a very tough scene," Whaley said. "But everybody worked well together, and our prayers go out to the families and to the surviving victim."
Rescue workers were on scene more than two hours before retrieving the surviving victim and confirming the deaths of the two others.
During that time, employees from inside the plant trickled outside, smoking cigarettes and making calls on their cell phones. About an hour and a half into the incident, the workers were called back inside momentarily and then sent home for the evening.
"They've evacuated the workers," Effler said at the time.
SPX Transformer Solutions Inc. is an electrical transformer and components manufacturer headquartered in Waukesha, Wis. On its website, the company says it is one of the largest U.S. manufacturers of medium and large power transformers, accessories and breaker components.
A statement is expected to be released by SPX later today, Effler said.