After a shocking explosion 5 miles north of campus at Parker Lord Corp. in Saegertown at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 9, faculty and students were notified of the emergency protocol and swift decisions that went into effect. A large industrial fire that accompanied the explosion left 13 people injured.
Parker Lord Corp. is a chemical plant that produces adhesives, coatings and specialty materials for use in the automotive, aerospace, industrial and oil and gas industries. It has about 230 employees.
Mark Weindorf, recently appointed director of Public Safety, was quickly concerned about any effect the fire would have on the campus community.
“I had to look real hard at one, how close is that facility to Allegheny? You have an explosion, there could be chemicals involved, so immediately going through my head is could we actually be affected?” Weindorf said.
As a retired Pennsylvania State Police officer, Weindorf used his contacts to keep updated on the situation.
“I’m retired state police, so I was getting some of my information from there knowing I could call and they would know exactly who I was and provide me information without questioning,” Weindorf said. “I was able to get good, up-to-date information from them, especially on the road closures and the dangers to the immediate community. The fact that the troopers were on scene closing roads down, not wearing chemical protection stuff made me feel even better.”
The concern in the community was whether the water supply had been contaminated or if air pollution posed a threat.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection was called to the scene to evaluate the area for potential risks and contamination, as well as investigations from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, according to WTAE.
Brennen McWright, ’27, a Saegertown resident, was about 2 miles away from the site at the time of the explosion. McWright said that he didn’t notice anything at first other than the flickering of the lights in the house, which he dismissed as nothing.
“I was off campus at the time, but I was keeping an eye on my email, and I saw that there was an emergency in Saegertown, and then ‘the emergency is fine now,’” McWright said.
Students were notified via email, as Weindorf and Dean for the Student Experience Ian Binnginton agreed it was in the campus’ best interest to send out information and alert people on campus that while there was no immediate danger, a major event was occurring in close proximity. The concern was for the faculty and students from the area who would want to be updated and for those on campus to know that if they were to be leaving, travel was restricted due to road blocks, said Weindorf.
Allegheny College has protocols in place for public safety offices that determine how and when to communicate to the full campus through the ALERTAllegheny (e2campus) system, as well as email.
Weindorf, having only been on campus for three weeks at the time of the emergency, was new to the alert system, but found it helpful in reaching the college community. “Obviously being new, that was my first time using it, and I just saw the effectiveness of it, and how quick decisions were able to be made,” Weindorf said.
Allegheny community members are also able to receive alerts through Omnilert, an app which includes instant notifications when campus alert messages are sent, a panic button to contact Public Safety in emergency situations as well as quick access to other safety resources.
“It was one phone call to my boss, ‘hey yeah this is a good idea, let’s get this sent out,’” Weindorf said. “Then, it was how quick the college leadership at that point made the decision ‘yeah, we’re going to take care of our people,’ and if members of our college community off campus needed to come here, they immediately made arrangements to be able to help them. And it didn’t take long to make that decision.”
Shortly after a shelter-in-place order went out in Saegertown, the college sent out an email welcoming those who may be affected to use the facilities open at the time, which included the David V. Wise Center and the Henderson Campus Center.
“There is an emergency response team that overlaps different divisions of the college that is in constant communication about any particular situation or crisis situation that we need to be aware of and how it might affect our campus community,” said Vice President for Enrollment Management Jennifer Winge, ’96.
She added that the leadership of the college met and implemented a plan upon hearing of the incident.
“We have a number of staff and community members that we know live in Saegertown within minutes of the affected area and once President Cole was aware of that,” Winge said. “He did notify and we did discuss as a senior leadership team if we felt as though our public spaces that were open at that time, the campus center and Wise Center, could those be locations for folks if they have nowhere else to go?”
McWright explained how the situation unfolded for the people in the immediate area of the explosion.
“We were told to either evacuate or stay inside. I don’t know anyone personally that actually evacuated, especially because it was only a big situation for a few hours, but I know everybody stayed inside,” McWright said. “It was mostly just concern [because] a lot of people know employees there, so it was mostly just phoning around trying to figure out if everyone was ok.”
According to WTAE, seven plant employees, five Saegertown firefighters and one Edinboro firefighter were taken to the hospital with minor injuries following the explosion. Everyone taken to the hospital to be treated was released by Monday afternoon, as reported by The Erie Times-News.
“There’s a crisis within our region, we are part of this community, we had members of our campus community, our staff and students that were directly being impacted,” Winge said. “We didn’t know if they needed direct assistance, but we knew at the very least we could provide shelter for them if they needed it.”
There is no evidence whether or not any community members made use of the college facilities to shelter in place during the hours of the event, though the college’s swift action and consideration spoke to its preparation for crisis.
“For other emergencies, things are going to happen,” Weindorf said. “There are good and solid procedures in place, solid people in decision-making roles, that are competent to make decisions in a very timely manner to keep our community safe.”