Redstone Arsenal: 2 injured in explosion on north Alabama Army base that tests missiles

Redstone Arsenal: 2 injured in Army base explosion

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Two contract workers were injured in an explosion Wednesday while removing a propellant from rockets at Redstone Arsenal, where the Army develops weapons and conducts missile training, a base official said.

Deputy Public Affairs Officer Kimberly Henry said the two were taken to the burn unit at UAB Hospital in Birmingham. UAB spokesman Bob Shepard said both were in critical condition.

Henry said a third person escaped injury from the blast, which occurred at 8:45 a.m. CDT and left part of the building in wreckage. She said all other personnel were accounted for.

She said one of the injured was flown by medical helicopter to UAB Hospital, while another was transferred there after initially being taken to Huntsville Hospital. The two, whose names were not released, worked for a base contractor, Amtech Corp.

Henry said the explosion happened while workers were removing a propellant, ammonium perchlorate, from the rockets. It’s a process base officials call demilitarization. There was no word on what caused the chemical to explode.

The accident occurred in Building 7352, a test site that conducts missile and aviation research. Henry said the building was designed to minimize the impact of possible explosions and had passed recent safety inspections.

Redstone Arsenal, which says it employs 32,000 people on 38,000 acres at Huntsville, is the center of U.S. Army missile and helicopter programs. The base also develops and maintains weapons systems for the Army.

It is also where the federal government provides explosives training for state and local bomb technicians and investigators. Planning for the National Center for Explosives Training and Research began in 2002 in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks and the center graduated its first class last year.

The explosion was at a site separate from the center.