Worker Hurt As Plant Explodes

HOMER, Alaska - An explosion and fire rocked a seafood-processing plant yesterday, sending one man to a hospital with chemical burns and prompting the evacuation of a remote spit of land.

Firefighters decided to let the plant owned by Icicle Seafoods of Seattle burn rather than confront hazardous materials inside.

An ammonia cloud emitted in the explosion wafted over Kachemak Bay, missing this tourist town. But workers, homeowners and more than 200 passengers from a cruise ship at port were evacuated as a precaution.

The Coast Guard estimated about 42,000 gallons of ammonia and an unknown amount of propane were stored at the Icicle plant.