Date: Feb 26, 2015 Author: Robert Salonga Source: San Jose Mercury News (
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SUNNYVALE -- Two people were injured in an explosion at a manufacturing business on Sobrante Way on Thursday afternoon, according to the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety.
Fire and hazardous-materials crews were called to 1:33 p.m. to Altex Technologies Corporation, in the 200 block of Sobrante. Authorities said the facility was evacuated, and two employees were treated at the scene for minor injuries.
Employees of an adjacent business reported hearing an explosion before the emergency call.
Two Altex employees were working in a lab, using hydrogen, when an explosion occurred, according to the Sunnyvale DPS. They suffered minor burns to the face, and after being treated at the scene, were transported to Valley Medical Center in San Jose.
Sunnyvale Fire Department personnel respond to a call of an explosion that injured two people at Altex Technology on Sobrante Way in Sunnyvale, Calif., on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015. (Gary Reyes/Bay Area News Group)
The building, which includes at least one other tenant, was evacuated, but after entering the building, hazardous materials crews determined the building was safe. Other tenants were able to return after about 90 minutes; Altex employees waited for another inspection of their portion of the building.
The incident was confined to the lab, and there was no hazard to the general public, according to Sunnyvale officials.
Police cordoned off Sobrante, which is just south of Central Expressway west of North Mathilda Avenue. The road reopened around 4 p.m.
Altex Technologies is a 15,000-square-foot facility housing testing and equipment involving heat and power systems and biomass. On its website, the company states, "Special test facilities are available to support heat exchanger, fuel cell and microturbine systems, biomass densification and conversion to liquid fuels and low emissions burners."
Contact Robert Salonga at 408-920-5002. Follow him at Twitter.com/robertsalonga.
