According to a report yesterday in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, SantoLubes employee Robert Exner was mixing ferric chloride and 1,2-methyldioxybenzene in a large tank Sunday when it exploded at 9:54 p.m. SantoLubes owner George Garrison told the Post-Dispatch that the company mixes the chemicals to make protective lubricants often used in airplanes, electronics and insecticides. The cause of the explosion remains under investigation, the St. Charles Fire Department stated.

Dan Casey, the fire departments public information officer, said SantoLubes usually has six people working at the facility during the day, and then one employee who works at night. Apparently they have a couple of reactors, Casey told Lube Report. For some reason one of them overheated, and exploded. The one guy inside was blown to the ground. The blast was heard from more than 10 miles away.

The employee suffered burns over at least 30 percent of his body, and rescue workers transported him to a burn unit for treatment. According to the fire department, firefighters were able to talk to the victim and, upon discovering no other victims, retreated to a safer area until the materials burning could be identified. One paramedic was treated for minor injuries at a local hospital.

According to its web site, SantoLubes manufactures synthetic fluids, lubricants and greases that provide solutions for difficult applications. These lubricants and greases are used where extreme high temperature, chemical inertness, radiation resistance and difficult lubrication problems are encountered, the site states. The company serves the aerospace, electronics, aviation, automotive, power and industrial sectors.

The St. Charles County Haz-Mat team was dispatched to the scene to assist with identifying hazardous materials and the risks involved in extinguishing the fire because the building houses chemicals used in production of insecticides. Casey said SantoLubes provided a list of about 20 chemicals that it works with.

Casey said the plant, which he estimated at roughly 22,000 square feet in space, was considered a total loss, though the structure is still standing. The fire also damaged some neighboring storage buildings, he added. All the chemicals used, including all the huge tanks on the exterior of the building, were still intact, he said. The only thing that was burning or leaking was the hot oil that they used for that reactor.

According to Casey, the weather cooperated to blow smoke away from residential areas. That night we had a lot of rain, and the wind was blowing from the east, which is not very common, he added. We didnt know what was burning, so we were concerned about what the cloud contained. As it turns out, it was probably just products of that reactors oil burning and the structure itself. The Department of Natural Resources remained on the scene Monday to evaluate any potential hazards.

About 40 firefighters from the St. Charles Fire Department and other area fire departments eventually arrived on the scene, he said. They were able to close valves to chemical tanks and extinguish the fire using foam at 12:29 a.m. on Monday.

SantoLubes did not return phone calls from Lube Report about the incident.