A large explosion shook a generating plant Tuesday morning, setting off a big fireball and injuring at least four people.
"The ground shook," one unidentified witness told WBBM-AM. "I saw a huge billowing of smoke . . . moments after that a huge fireball. I mean, it was unbelievable to watch this."The explosion was heard just before 8 a.m. at a coal-fired power plant along the Lake Michigan shore that is owned by Southern Energy Corp. Thick, black smoke and flames were billowing from the plant nearly an hour later.
Fire Inspector Jim Walsko of the Hammond Fire Department said there were outside cleaning contractors at the plant when the explosion happened. The cause of the blast was not immediately known.