2 dead, 4 injured after industrial accident at TECO plant

Two people are dead and four others are facing life-threatening injuries after an industrial accident Thursday afternoon at the Tampa Electric (TECO) plant in Apollo Beach.

Officials with Hillsborough County Fire Rescue said in a news conference that a 911 call came in around 4:20 p.m. reporting a possible explosion at the Big Bend Power Station.

Crews found two people dead along with multiple other victims. Two injured people were airlifted to the hospital, and two others were transported by ground, all with life-threatening injuries, said Corey Diedorff, a spokesperson for HCFR.

Injuries included burns “as well as some others” categorized as “very severe,” Diedorff said. He said the situation at the powere plant is under control, and there is no danger to the community.

HCFR initially reported Thursday afternoon in a tweet that it was responding to a “major incident.”

A TECO spokeswoman said at the news conference that the company is working with victims, employees and their families to make sure “they have what they need.”

The industrial accident occurred one of four units at the coal-fired plant, and that particular unit, Unit 2, is down because of the accident, the TECO spokeswoman said.

She said routine maintenance was being performed on a slag tank when the accident occurred. Slag is a by-product of burned coal.

TECO’s No. 1 priority is safety, the spokeswoman said, and company officials “want to get every detail right” to ensure a similar accident doesn’t happen again.

“We’ve long been a family, and the family right now is mourning,” she said.

On TECO’s Twitter feed, the company posted a message about 10:50 p.m.: “We’d like to express our deepest condolences to the families of the victims from this afternoon’s accident at Big Bend Power Station.”

This story was originally published June 29, 2017 at 5:08 PM with the headline "2 dead, 4 injured after industrial accident at TECO plant."