Byron plant employee suffers first-degree burns in flash fire

An employee of a Byron plant that manufactures munitions for the government and law enforcement suffered first-degree burns Tuesday in a flash fire.

Jeff Doles, director of the Peach County Emergency Management Agency, said the incident occurred early Tuesday afternoon at Pyrotechnic Specialities Inc. at 1661 Juniper Creek Road.

"The employees were packaging some raw materials for disposal and some kind of spark or something, it caused a little flash fire," Doles said. "It was raw material. I think it was some type of nitrate."

The employee was taken to a local hospital for what were believed to be minor burns, Doles said. He did know the employee's name.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is aware of the incident and is looking into it, said Leni Uddyback-Fortson, an OSHA spokeswoman.

Efforts to reach David J. Karlson, the company's CEO, were unsuccessful Wednesday.

In August 2006, an explosion at the plant destroyed one of its buildings, created a 500-foot mushroom cloud and sent shock waves for 15 miles. The blast happened in the middle of the night, and no one was injured.

In January 2009, a federal judge dismissed an indictment against the company, Karlson and several employees who were accused of multiple charges of conspiracy, money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the government. Investigators had alleged that Pyrotechnic Specialties had relabeled flash-bang grenades that were faulty, claiming that they met military standards.

When the charges were dismissed, the judge criticized how the government pursued the case.

According to the initial indictment, Pyrotechnic Specialties had a $15 million contract with the Department of Defense. The company also manufactured a similar device for law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, which entered into an exclusive contract with Pyrotechnic Specialties between 2000 and 2005, according to the indictment.

In 2004, three Philadelphia-based FBI agents were injured when one of the devices went off prematurely while an agent carried it in his vest, the indictment stated. The agents sustained burns and hearing loss as a result, an FBI spokesperson said.

Information from The Telegraph's archives was used in this report. To contact writer Becky Purser, call 256-9559.

This story was originally published April 13, 2016 at 4:54 PM with the headline "Byron plant employee suffers first-degree burns in flash fire ."