Booooom said:

http://www.thenorthwestern.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061207/OSH/61207047/1987
Third-generation employee among those killed in Milwaukee factory explosion

By CARRIE ANTLFINGER
Associated Press Writer

MILWAUKEE - Daniel Kuster followed his father and grandfather into work at the Falk Corp., but the family tradition will end with him.

The 35-year-old and two other workers were killed Wednesday when an explosion and fire leveled an industrial warehouse at the Falk complex and rocked the near-downtown area. Forty-six others were injured, including one with life-threatening injuries, Mayor Tom Barrett said.

"You shouldn’t have to bury your kids," Kuster’s father, Melvin, said, crying, Wednesday night.

Melvin Kuster retired after 41 years from the century-old factory that makes gears and couplings for heavy industry, and his father worked at Falk, too. Now his only child has died there.

"Thirty-five-years-old - maybe if he was jerk or drug addict it wouldn’t be so bad, but he was great," he said.

Police Chief Nan Hegerty said investigators were still trying to determine the exact cause of the blast, which shook the surrounding area, overturned workers’ cars in a parking lot and broke windows of nearby businesses and apartment buildings.

"There was a propane leak. There were employees of Falk who were investigating the leak," she said. "They began to evacuate the building, and that’s when the explosion occurred.

"Had they not been evacuating the employees that were in that building, the death toll would have been much higher."

Hegerty said the explosion seemed to be an accident but police opened a criminal investigation, which was normal procedure. Milwaukee County district attorney’s office, the state fire marshal, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were also investigating.

Barrett said the company has a clean safety record with the city. The last inspection was in September, "and any violations were corrected on the spot," he said.

Bob Hitt, CEO of Falk’s parent company Rexnord Corp., said employees would be paid while the firm assesses the situation at the 61-acre complex, which has multiple buildings.

The company held a private meeting with employees Wednesday evening to offer grief counseling and information.

Larry Thibault, 59, a warranty administrator at Falk, attended the meeting and said later that the company was optimistic about rebuilding, although officials didn’t give a timeline as to when people would return to work. He said the company had to assess the site’s safety.

"There was an absolute commitment to bring the company back to full production as soon as they can," he said.

Thibault said he wasn’t focusing on whether his pay would run out. "Right now my focus is getting up and running," he said.

Police interviewed more than 500 people and firefighters searched through wreckage for hours before accounting for the more than 700 workers from the plant.

Tim Vail, 48, who has worked for the company for 20 years, estimated that about 500 people were likely working in the morning when the explosion happened. He was in another building and was not hurt.

The factory, which is not far from the Milwaukee Brewers’ home of Miller Park, is in the Menomonee Valley, home to several trucking companies and industrial supply firms.

Dozens of workers with injuries including broken bones, head wounds and cuts were treated at hospitals throughout Milwaukee.

Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital saw nine patients, including one with bleeding to his head, said Dr. Daniel DeBehnke, the hospital’s clinical medical director. Another man had chest and lung injuries, while others suffered broken bones and numerous cuts, DeBehnke said.

Another patient was transferred to Froedtert overnight and one was listed in critical condition and three as satisfactory Thursday, said hospital spokesman Brian Dorrington.

The three men who died had years of experience at the plant.

Daniel Kuster, an only child, never married and had no children, said his aunt, Vicki Izydor, 36. She said he was a fork lift driver and had been with Falk for 11 years.

"I know he was very close to his parents," she said. "I couldn’t even imagine to be honest what it feels like to lose your only child, and in such a tragic way."

She said he loved his job and enjoyed camping. He had recently moved from Milwaukee to the more rural Mayville to escape the police cars and sirens, she said.

Also among the dead were 38-year-old Curtis J. Lane, of Oconomowoc, and Thomas M. Letendre, 49, of Milwaukee.

Curtis Lane’s father-in-law, William Borgiasz of Oconomowoc, said Lane was the father of two young children and his wife, Tina, operates a day care center.

"It is a big tragedy," Borgiasz said. "It is really hard to deal with. All we are going to tell them is, ’Daddy ain’t coming home."’

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Infrared said:

no, i dont remember 2003.. but im pretty sure i wasnt scared of a nuke going off

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