Three rescued, one unaccounted in power plant stack fire

MOUNDSVILLE, WEST VIRGINIA - A fire broke out in a 1,000-foot-tall smokestack under construction at a coal-fired power plant recently, trapping four contract workers, officials said.

Three workers were plucked off the stack by a Maryland State Police helicopter after being trapped for about two hours above the flames at the Kammer-Mitchell plant south of Moundsville, said American Electric Power spokeswoman Carmen Prati-Miller.

The workers were employed by Pullman Power, which has a contract to install a fiberglass lining in the stack, said Prati-Miller, of the Columbus, Ohio, company. Officials did not immediately know what caused the lining to catch fire at the plant, along the Ohio River about 68 miles southwest of Pittsburgh.

"When the fire occurred (the rescued) individuals were in the stack," Prati-Miller said. "They were able to make their way to the top of the stack."

The three men were lifted off of the smokestack individually in a basket that was lowered to them, said Greg Shipley, a spokesman for the Maryland State Police. The men were "fine" and able to walk away from the helicopter after it landed, he said.

"They were each lifted up individually in a hoist, in a basket, that was lowered to them, lifted up in the helicopter, taken to the ground," Shipley said.

Two State Police helicopters were called to help, but only one from Cumberland, Md., actually took part in the rescue, he said. The second was called back.

"I would say it was challenging, because it was windy, dark, and there was fire and smoke, so that's a challenge for the pilot and the paramedic who's operating the hoist," Shipley said.

Marshall County Sheriff John Gruzinskas called the rescue effort "amazing."

"The pilots know what they are doing," Gruzinskas told West Virginia Media. "If it was too much of a risk, they wouldn't have tried it. But this is just absolutely fabulous."

Prati-Miller said she did not know the conditions of the workers.

The coal-fired plant is being upgraded to bring it into compliance with federal air pollution regulations.