MOUNDSVILLE, W.Va. – One worker was unaccounted for and three had to be rescued by helicopter after a fire broke out in a 1,000-foot-tall smokestack under construction at an American Electric Power plant on Saturday.
The three contract workers were plucked off the stack by a helicopter about 10 p.m., after being trapped for about two hours above the flames, said AEP spokeswoman Carmen Prati-Miller.
The fire occurred at AEP's Kammer-Mitchell plant south of Moundsville, which is about 68 miles southwest of Pittsburgh.
Prati-Miller said the four workers were employed by Pullman Power, which has a contract to install a fiberglass lining in the stack. Apparently the liner caught fire about 8 p.m., but Prati-Miller said officials did not immediately know the cause.
The plant is undergoing an upgrade to bring the coal-fired power station into compliance with federal air pollution regulations.
Traffic on state Route 2 near the plant was blocked, she said.
