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300K Tons of Molten Glass Spills in Plant

Firefighters worked for hours to cool the glass so it wouldn't destroy beams and collapse the building.

The inside of a 2,500-degree glass furnace.
The inside of a 2,500-degree glass furnace.
Wikipedia

ZANESVILLE, Ohio (AP) — Authorities say 300,000 tons (272,156 metric tons) of molten glass spilled from a ruptured tank at an Ohio plant, oozing like lava from a small hole that quickly grew several feet wide.

It wrapped around structural beams at the Owens-Illinois glass plant in Zanesville on Monday. Firefighters worked for hours to cool the glass so it wouldn't destroy beams and collapse the building.

No injuries were reported.

Owens-Illinois tells the Zanesville Times Recorder that employees followed safety protocols. The damage is being assessed.

South Zanesville Fire Chief Russell Taylor says the rupture started with a hole that quickly grew.

He says firefighters were prepared because he and other area fire officials had taken the precaution of talking with the plant in recent weeks about how to handle a potential rupture.

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