Explosion at US Steel Plant in Clairton

GEEZZZZ
Same. Prayers for everyone.

 

Different Pittsburgh area facility but I used to work on a coke oven in the 1970’s

Nasty place to work

 

They are reporting 1 person killed and 2 missing?

 

Very sad. In the 60's I had an ex brother-in-law that bragged about all the money he use to make. When he got laid off he was always cocky saying he'd be back to work soon. Needless to say the plant closed down.

They use to have vats of hot ass liquid and a worker fell off the catwalk into it. They had to bury the whole vat since body was incinerated.

Remember growing up in the Burgh. We were all going to work at the Steel Mills or Kauffman's.

Good luck to families of workers!!

 

I just watched the explosion. Frigging huge and terrible.

 

Terrible news. Thoughts and prayers for the families.

 

My older sister dated/engaged to a man that worked at Bethlehem steel. He was very proud and his work.

 

My first day working on an open hearth furnace they told me if I was going to commit suicide for the insurance money that I should not jump into a ladle of steel (a ladle was about 16 feet across and 3000 degrees)

He said it would melt everything including your teeth and there was no proof you were dead so the insurance company would not pay

I thanked him for that information

 

My thoughts are with my friends and family affected by this tragedy. No home is like your childhood home.

 

Update now just 1 person missing other missing person found

 

turns out two people were killed so far. Terrible thing

 

Growing up, we lived outside of Elizabeth. My Dad worked at Clairton for 20 years, until they closed down his part of the mill in '59 or so. He came out to the Philly area and worked at American Bridge in Trenton until he got into the Fairless Works out here.
i followed him into the mill when I got out of high school in '74, and became a bricklayer. Relined open hearths, blast furnaces, and soaking pits and reheat furnaces. Sometimes, we relined the wharf in the coke plant when the brick surface would wear down from the hot coke being pushed out of the ovens and down the slope into the larry car.
Worked briefly in Fairless' coke plant when I was bumped back to the labor gang to avoid a layoff. Nasty place to work. Cancer city, from the coke gasses.

I echo the prayers for all involved.

 

They gave us respirators to wear on top of the coke ovens

With the sweat they just wore the skin on your face raw but we were required to have it

So it was nicely strapped to my right thigh

I hated working on an open hearth but I’m claustrophobic and I watched the bricklayers reline ovens that were still very warm and some very narrow and I thought no way

 

sad news. been in those plants working and in chem plants on the other side of a road pretty much splitting them. dirty, hot, dangerous. earned your money in those places.