Shell is investigating what caused an explosion and fire at one of its seven ethane furnaces at the petrochemical plant in Beaver County on Wednesday afternoon.

A cloud of smoke can be seen bursting from furnace #5 at around 2:20 p.m., according to a continuous camera pointed at the plant that streams live at https://breathecam.org.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, which sent officials to the site after the event, said the fire was put out quickly and 15 Shell employees were evacuated. None was seriously injured, but “three individuals were assessed for heat stress symptoms,” Shell’s spokesman Joe Minnitte said.

“None were admitted, and all were cleared to return to work,” he said.

The company reported to emergency officials that the accident released “an unkno

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