An exterior photo of the entrance to the Timet plant in Henderson, where an explosion on Jan. 24 2018, rattled windows in the southeast valley and injured two people. The blast was contained to the facility, and there was no fire or release of hazardous materials.
Published Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018 | 9:24 a.m.
Updated Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018 | 12:39 p.m.
An explosion at a titanium plant in Henderson rattled windows in the southeast valley and injured two people, city and county officials said.
The blast was contained to the facility, and there was no fire or release of hazardous materials, according to the Henderson Fire Department.
The injuries were minor and did not require medical treatment, fire department officials said.
The explosion occurred just after 8 a.m. at the Timet plant at 181 N. Water St., near Lake Mead Parkway, officials said. Timet manufactures titanium-based metal products mainly for the aerospace industry.
“Something occurred during their magnesium mold process — it’s part of their manufacturing process — that caused an explosion,” said Kathleen Richards, a spokeswoman for the city of Henderson.
The plant was closed while crews investigated the cause of the blast.
“While it was loud, it only caused minimal damage,” said David Dugan, Timet spokesman. “We expect to be up and running here and return to operation shortly. It was more of a loud noise than it was a destructive incident.”
Dugan said safety is the plant's top priority.
“We will be reviewing to make sure if there are any additional controls or processes needed, we’ll look at that,” he said. “We’ve been manufacturing the product there for a long, long time and, thankfully, these are rare occurrences. We will learn from this and make sure we understand it.”
This is not the first time there has been an explosion at the plant. In 1998, up to 1,000 pounds of molten magnesium triggered an explosion and fire at the plant, sending sparks, flames and a harmless white cloud into the air. No one was hurt.
