Feb 7, 2007 8:44 am US/Eastern
Evaporated Solvents May Have Fueled Danvers Blast
DANVERS (WBZ) ―
Investigators think evaporated solvents from a heated mixing tank may have sparked the massive explosion in Danvers last November.
A team from the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board said the tank at ink manufacturer CAI Incorporated was filled with 2,000 gallons of printing ink ingredients, including flammable solvents.
They believe those materials in the tank may have evaporated overnight, providing vapors that filled the building and eventually blew it up and leveled the surrounding neighborhood in the early morning hours of November 22, 2006.
Federal investigators have said the cause of the ignition may never be known because the building was completely destroyed.
State investigators haven't determined a cause of the explosion, saying evidence is still being analyzed.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
