An investigation is underway Tuesday morning following an explosion of the Meridian plant on High Street East in Strathroy Monday night.
The explosion happened around 7 p.m. when a piece of machinery caught fire.
“There was an explosion that resulted from a piece of machinery that was in use at the time,” said Strathroy-Caradoc CAO Greg McClinchey. “There was some fairly substantial structural damage to the left side of the plant and there was some fire, some hydraulics were burning, some other things like that had to be dealt with.”
The company’s website says it makes magnesium die cast components. Its plant on High Street East has been open since 1981.
“The plant was in operation, there were people working at the time, I think it was a minimal crew but there were people working at the time,” McClinchey said.
Two people suffered minor injuries from falling debris. No first responders were injured.
The investigation into the cause of the explosion is now underway. The fire inspector and labour ministry are conducting the investigation.
There are three Meridian plants in Strathroy. The plant on High Street East will be closed Tuesday, while the two others on McNab Ave and Wright Street will operate as per usual.