BATON ROUGE, LA. - Paxon Polymer Co. is investigating an Oct. 18 explosion and fire at its Baton Rouge facility. No injuries were reported and damage is estimated at $250,000, said Dennis Waild, manager of employee relations.
A storage tank containing high density polyethylene pellets exploded and caught fire, he said.
Three people working in the area and the company's emergency response team extinguished the fire. The Baton Rouge Fire Department was called but did not enter the plant, Waild said.
The company makes the HDPE pellets, which are used to manufacture food containers. The explosion and fire did not affect production, he said.
Paxon, which has been in business since 1957, has been owned jointly by AlliedSignal Inc. and Exxon Chemical Co. since 1990. It employs 480.
