Update of Accident at Bethlehem's Burns Harbor Division
Bethlehem Steel Corporation
For Immediate Release
BETHLEHEM, Pa., February 5, 2001 - In response to media inquiries concerning the accident and fire at Bethlehem Steel's Burns Harbor Division in Burns Harbor, Ind. on February 2, 2001, the following information was provided:
An employee of Bethlehem Steel Corporation's Burns Harbor Division and another non-Bethlehem contract employee were fatally injured at about 12:50 p.m. on February 2, 2001 in an accident and fire at the Division's 160-inch plate mill. The deceased Bethlehem employee was identified as Daniel Kado, 54, of Hobart, Ind., who was a millwright in the Division's general repair department. The other fatally injured individual was Mike Davis, 41, of Gary, Ind., a construction worker for Onyx Industrial Corp. Both individuals were pronounced dead at the scene.
In addition, five other individuals, including four Burns Harbor Division employees, were injured in the accident and transported to Porter Memorial Hospital in Valparaiso, Ind. for further treatment. John Barber, 61, of Lake Station, Ind., Russell Payne, 54, of Portage, Ind., Byron Tofahl, 55, of Lake Station, Ind., and Candace Smith, 31, of Valparaiso, Ind., a contract firefighter from Rural Metro, were treated and released. Jose Claudio, 51, of Portage, Ind., a millwright at the Division, was subsequently airlifted to the University of Chicago Hospital for further treatment where he remains in stable, but very serious condition.
The accident occurred when the employees were changing a valve in an area above the #4 reheat furnace at the 160-inch plate mill. The #4 reheat furnace was undergoing demolition but the demolition work was unrelated to the accident and fire.
Production was suspended at the 160-inch plate mill following the accident and the initial investigation. No other operations at the Burns Harbor Division were affected by the accident. Normal production at the plate mill resumed at about 7:30 p.m. on Friday, February 2.
IOSHA was informed of the accident, and a President's Investigation Committee, which consists of representatives of the United Steelworkers of America and Burns Harbor Division management, was convened and is investigating the accident. The Porter County, Ind. coroner's office and the county sheriff's department also assisted with the initial investigation.
Further details will be released when available.