Explosion at Falk kills three, leaves dozens injured

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Smoke from the explosion at Falk Corp. billows up around the company smokestack above. The smoke could be seen for miles around the Menomonee Valley.

Photos by Joe Grundle

A massive explosion at Falk Corp. in Milwaukee’s Menomonee Valley killed three
workers, injured dozens more and left one person missing.

As of early Wednesday afternoon, authorities did not know what caused the explosion,
which could be heard and felt tens of miles away, but speculation was that one
of Falk’s large propane tanks blew shortly after 8 a.m. Wednesday morning. Falk
manufactures power transmissions.

Milwaukee resident and eyewitness Ben Grange described the explosion and the
smaller explosions that followed.

“I was actually getting into my car to go to work when I heard and felt the
explosion,” said Grange, who lives in the 3000 block of West Pierce Street,
the first street south of the valley. “I looked over my shoulder and saw debris
going hundreds of feet up in the air.

“There were a couple of small explosions after that, but those were much more
minimal.”

Grange thought at first that a building was simply being demolished but thought
otherwise after seeing so much collateral damage.

“Telephone polls were sparking and the windows broke,” said Grange, a U.S. Army-trained
medic who compared the shake to standing next to a firing Howitzer.

Although the blast was reportedly heard as far away as Racine County, Grange
wasn’t knocked to the ground, which he attributed to the higher elevation.

“The irony is you see what’s going on, but there’s nothing you can do,” he
said. “I’m up on the hill, you know there is an emergency down there, but I
can’t get to it, so you just hope for the best for the people down on the ground.”

Construction crews working on buildings in the surrounding area were sent home
by their companies because of concern about smoke from the spreading fire.

Construction worker Jack Obarski, 46, of Milwaukee, said he was working when
he heard a loud boom and saw smoke hundreds of feet in the air.

“Stuff was just flying up in the air,” Obarski said as he headed home.

Command center set up

City officials set up an emergency operating command center and held their
first press conference on the incident at Miller Park.

Milwaukee Fire Chief William Wentlandt headed a unified command operation that
included the Milwaukee Police Department, Health Department and Department of
Public Works.

“Around 8 a.m. this morning, the Milwaukee Fire Department was notified of
a fire explosion,” Wentlandt said at about 10:15 a.m. “Immediately, we responded,
and upon arrival found that we had a combined fire operation, emergency medical
operation, hazardous materials operation and heavy rescue operation.”

Out of fear of further explosions and to keep people away from the rescue effort,
Milwaukee County sheriffs shut down several viaducts over the Menomonee Valley
as well as nearby freeway exit ramps yesterday morning.

But the major traffic impact was due to gawkers, according to Wisconsin Department
of Transportation Marquette Interchange spokesman Brian Manthey. At 9 a.m.,
eastbound Interstate 94 traffic was backed up to State Fair Park.

Seeing as Canal Street is a major alternate to the highway during rush hour,
the department was ready to post on alternate routes its Marquette Web site
if it continued to be closed, Manthey said.

“We felt the explosion here, there’s no question about it,” Manthey said from
the WisDOT office located within a few miles of Falk in the Menomonee Valley.

Public Relations Manager Anne Schwartz said the Police Department was conducting
an investigation into the incident.

“Right now, we are talking to employees that are coming here (Miller Park)
and then releasing them to go on their way,” she said.

Midst of renovation

Mayor Tom Barrett said at least 120 firefighters had been called to the scene,
along with all 12 of Milwaukee emergency medical service units as well as numerous
private ambulances.

But Barrett refused to speculate on the possible cause of the explosion.

So did Linda Mayer, vice president of corporate communication who spoke on behalf
of Rexnord Corp., Falk’s parent company.

“As soon as we heard of the news, we’ve been working very closely with the
city and all of the emergency personnel to make sure the employees were evacuated
as quickly as possible,” she said. “We are extremely concerned about the welfare
of our employees, and that’s on the top of our list right now.”

Mayer said the building that collapsed was a manufacturing facility but that
is was unclear at that point what would happen in terms of production and what
the extent of the damage is.

Coincidentally, Barrett had visited the company the previous day.

“Falk is a corporation that has a strong Milwaukee tradition of 150 years,
and it has been a great employer that’s committed to the valley,” he said.

Falk had been in the midst of a $5 million to $6 million renovation of the
Menomonee Valley facility in order to move 105 new jobs there from the Capitol
Drive facility, which it is closing. The city in April created a $1.5 million
tax incremental financing district to support the expansion. The TIF plan called
for Falk to pay the $1.5 million up front, and the city would use the additional
taxes generated by its expanded facility to repay the company.

“Actually, Falk Corp. has completed a large amount of the improvements that
were part of the TIF,” said Milwaukee Department of City Development Commission
Rocky Marcoux.

Marcoux said Wednesday morning that it was too early to guess what the explosion
would mean to the TIF plan. However, he said the city would be at the table
to support the company’s recovery.

“We will be active partners in trying to assist them in any way that we can,”
Marcoux said. “It’s pure speculation as to the condition of those plans. What
we’re concerned about right now is the employees and the employees’ families.”

Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Milwaukee area office had a
team on site, but Area Director George Yoksas also did not yet know what caused
the explosion.

“It’s still a ‘hot’ site so to speak,” he said. “Anytime you deal with hydrocarbons
in any way, shape or form, there is a possibility of something like this.

“What we will try to do is find out what occurred, why, and if there were any
OSHA rules or regulations that may have been violated.”

Sean Ryan and the Associated Press contributed to this report.