The fire and explosion at a Staten Island shipyard that killed one and injured dozens of people was an accident caused by paint vapors that ignited, the Fire Department said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The explosion happened just before 3:30 p.m. on Friday at May Ship Repair Contracting Corporation on the North Shore of Staten Island, officials said<\/a>. After the Fire Department responded, there was a second explosion, which injured 34 firefighters and emergency medical workers.<\/p>\n In a statement, the Fire Department said that the fire and explosion were accidental and the result of \u201cthe ignition of flammable vapors associated with industrial-grade paint within a confined space.\u201d<\/p>\n On Saturday, Nadia Adam, the executive vice president of May Ship Repair Contracting Corporation, said that the man who died in the accident was a subcontractor who had worked with the company on several projects<\/a>. He had a wife, a son and a daughter, she said.<\/p>\n Ms. Adam said that a dry dock that was under construction had caught fire before the blasts.<\/p>\n Austin Montanti, a marine chemist who performs safety evaluations for 10 of the 12 shipyards on the North Shore, called the situation \u201ccompletely avoidable.\u201d<\/p>\n The main element of marine-grade paints, Mr. Montanti said, is an industrial solvent called Toluene. He said it has a low flashpoint, meaning it is easily ignitable, especially in the form of spray paint. Using any tool that can cause sparking around Toluene can be catastrophic.<\/p>\n \u201cIt isn\u2019t much different from smoking a cigarette while putting gasoline in your car,\u201d Mr. Montanti said.<\/p>\n