Blast injures worker

A 20-gallon drum of butane cigarette lighters exploded at the Bob

Hope Airport Wednesday injuring a federal security employee.

The minor explosion closed a hallway of the terminal for about 10

minutes, and did not result in any air traffic delays, airport

officials said.

The container burst at 10:15 a.m. in an administrative office in

the hallway connecting the two airport terminals, Bob Hope Airport

spokesman Victor Gill said.

An Transportation Security Administration employee was moving a

20-gallon plastic drum filled with cigarette lighters collected from

passengers when the container dropped, causing a small explosion

inside the drum, popping the lid off the container, Gill said.

The lid struck the unidentified worker in the legs, causing minor

injuries.

“Something about the jarring of the fall caused some kind of a

minor explosion,” Gill said. “Not a fire in the sense of flames, but

something volatile that ignited.”

Airport officials believe accumulated vapors from the lighters in

the sealed container ignited with the force of the fall, causing the

burst, airport officials said.

The employee was transported to St. Joseph Medical Center in

Burbank and was treated for minor cuts and bruises. He had no burns

and was released a few hours later, Gill said.

No one was evacuated.

A second employee was hospitalized for anxiety, Gill said.

“He was responding to the accident and apparently got caught up in

the event and had symptoms of anxiety,” he said.

The Transportation Security Administration is a federal agency

that employs people to check passengers as they enter airport

terminals. Cigarette lighters are not allowed on airplanes, so

passengers often give them up to employees, who store them in a

container, which is picked up by a waste hauler for proper removal.

“TSA collects them at quite a high volume,” Gill said.

The agency will be making some revisions to their policies as a

result of Wednesday’s accident, agency spokeswoman Jennifer Peppin

said.

“Employees will no longer be handling the bins,” she said.

Hazardous material pick-up may be made at more frequent intervals

instead of monthly, and bins like those containing the lighters will

be kept in well-ventilated areas outside, Peppin said.