After the first of two explosions rocked the Verla International factory at 10:15 a.m. Monday, dozens of firefighters – some paid, most volunteers – raced to the scene on Temple Hill Road.
They found chaos. Employees poured out of the burning building. They were using multiple exits, and many didn’t speak English, said Chris Sweeney, chief of the Vails Gate Fire Department.
Four City of Newburgh firefighters entered the cosmetics plant to search for employees who weren’t able to escape on their own.
Ed Klouda was among a group of Vails Gate firefighters who pulled up alongside the building in a ladder truck, then headed toward a rear entrance to join the search.
The fire grew rapidly, the heat intensified, and within minutes the firefighters began to retreat, Sweeney said.
That’s when the second explosion hit, at about 10:40 a.m.