Washington, D.C., April 8, 2021 - The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) is deploying to the scene of a fatal explosion and fire at the Yenkin-Majestic Paints and OPC Polymers manufacturing site in Columbus, Ohio.  

According to initial reports, an explosion and two-alarm fire erupted at the paint plant around midnight on Thursday April 8th. Approximately forty employees were believed to be working on site at the time of the incident -- one of those employees was killed and eight were transported to area hospitals for injuries. The blast shook neighboring buildings and at least one nearby business sustained damage. 

The CSB will provide updates as additional information becomes available.

The CSB's core mission activities include conducting incident investigations; formulating preventive or mitigative recommendations based on investigation findings and advocating for their implementation; issuing reports containing the findings, conclusions, and recommendations arising from incident investigations; and conducting studies on chemical hazards.

For more information, contact Communications Manager Hillary Cohen at public**At_Symbol_Here**csb.gov or by phone at 202.446.8094