ROME, Ga. — Fire officials are still trying to figure out what caused a chemical plant in Rome, Georgia to catch fire. On the other hand, hundreds of employees are wondering when they’ll return to work.
The Bekaert plant caught fire Wednesday evening. Channel 2's Tyisha Fernandes obtained documents showing that the plant has been cited for safety violations before. Documents also show the thousands of dollars in fines company officials had to pay.
Current workers returned to the plant Thursday hoping to punch in, but the plant was shut down.
“We’re ready to go back to work. This ain’t no bakery. We work with steel, things happen,” said one worker.
A former worker, who didn’t want to be identified in fear on losing his long term disability, told Fernandes that he was fired two years ago after an injury on the job. An injury doing something, he says, the Bekaert plant should not have made him do.
“I have constant pain in my lower back, radiating down through my leg,” he said. “We're on the verge of losing our home. I’m in constant pain (and) I can't play with my children the way I used to.”
The man said he wasn’t surprised when he saw parts of the plant go up in flames yesterday.
“They knew they needed better fire extinguishers, the plant has been a disaster waiting to happen for the longest time,” the man said.
Fernandes tried to speak with company officials today, but they wouldn’t comment on the fire or the former employee’s accusations. Current workers told Fernandes that they are getting paid through the rest of the week and they’re expecting to be at least cleaning up the plant by Monday.
WSBTV
