2 Workers Hurt After Steam Pipe Bursts In 9-Story Plant On Kneeland Street In Boston

BOSTON (CBS) - Two workers were rushed to the hospital with burns after a steam pipe burst at a steam plant on Kneeland Street Friday morning.

Boston firefighters were called to the Vicinity Energy plant around 9:45 a.m. after the pipe burst in the basement, leaving the two workers trapped.

"An old building like this, big steam pipes in there, you never know what you're going to get. I ordered everyone out of the building for my members' safety after the victims were removed from the basement," Acting Deputy Fire Chief Chris Burke told reporters.

"I can't get into their injuries with a lot of specificity, however with steam there are steam burns and you can see burns externally easily enough. Steam always brings with it the concern of inhalation injuries so they'll have to be evaluated for inhalation injuries as well. But at first glance, it would appear that they're non-life-threatening injuries but with steam it complicates it you can't always see the injury that you're dealing with," said Steven McHugh, the Deputy Superintendent of Boston EMS.

The firefighters will stay out of the building until the steam leak is isolated.

The gas to the building has been shut off from the outside.

"Everybody did a great job getting things turned off, getting steam turned off. My understanding is there was concern of a gas leak at one point, which everybody pulled back appropriately and touched base with the gas company to ensure that that was all taken care off. So overall we're very fortunate they had backup plans in place that worked well. Hopefully the two workers will remain with non-life-threatening injuries," McHugh said.

The steam plant is nine stories tall. At least three ladder trucks are working outside of the building.

"There was a steam leak at Vicinity Energy's steam generation plant at 165 Kneeland Street in Boston, MA. Steam was released within the plant only. The rupture poses no public safety risk. All personnel have been accounted for, with two contract workers transported to Massachusetts General Hospital. One worker has been released and the second appears to have suffered burns on his arm," said a statement from Vicinity Energy. "Steam service continued uninterrupted, served by Vicinity's other local plants: Kendall and Scotia stations. A limited number of customers experienced a reduction in steam pressure, which is now restored."

The company is investigating the leak.

There was a fire at the same plant earlier this month on Monday, October 4.

No one was hurt. There's no word yet on what caused that fire.