Explosions and fire tear through Ohio industrial building, killing 2
workers
[August 19, 2026]
By DAVE COLLINS and JOHN SEEWER
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Explosions rocked an Ohio industrial recycling
business early Tuesday, killing two workers and sparking a large fire,
officials said.
Flames and dark smoke poured from Brent Industries in Toledo as fire
engines surrounded the building, TV news video showed.
Crews later discovered the bodies of two employees, a man and a woman,
inside the smoldering building, said Toledo Fire Chief Allison
Armstrong. Two or three other employees had minor injuries, she said.
Two explosions occurred shortly before 5 a.m., during a shift change,
Armstrong said. Crews had to deal with hazardous materials, runoff and
the threat of more explosions while first searching for victims and
accounting for the other employees, she said.
Environmental officials said monitors showed that there was no hazardous
threat in the air.
Demetrius Langston said he felt the explosion half a mile (0.8
kilometers) away. He ran outside with his phone and captured video of a
huge plume of smoke rising into the dark sky.
“The shock waves came down the block,” he said. “Then we all heard it
again. Boom! You could feel it.”
Armstrong said the fire was still burning Tuesday afternoon. She also
said there were no preliminary indications of what caused the
explosions.
Aerial images showed that nearly all of the building’s roof was gone and
that the blast blew out its walls.
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration said it was
investigating. The agency has six months to conduct its investigation
and it won't release any more information until that's completed,
officials said.
Authorities encouraged people near the site who could see or smell smoke
to keep windows and doors closed and avoid the area.
Phone and email messages were left for Brent Industries.
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Family members console one another as firefighters work to put out a
blaze after an explosion at Brent Industries, Tuesday, Aug. 18,
2026, in Toledo, Ohio. (Jeremy Wadsworth/The Blade via AP)
The company, based in Brent, Alabama, offers textile reconditioning
and industrial recycling services aimed at reducing waste and saving
money, according to its website. It was founded in Alabama in 1977
and has operations in Brent and Toledo.
The company’s Alabama location also had an explosion and fire in
2015 that killed one person.
After that deadly explosion, OSHA determined that flammable vapor
from mineral spirits, a petroleum solvent used for cleaning and
other purposes, ignited in an industrial washing machine. The
company was cited for a half-dozen violations and fined $27,000,
according to OSHA records.
Fire officials say tanks containing mineral spirits were at the
Toledo plant. The company says on its website that it uses mineral
spirits in the cleaning process for work gloves, wiping clothes and
other textiles that contain hazardous substances.
In 2004, OSHA cited Brent Industries for two serious violations at
its Toledo plant, including failing to protect workers from death or
serious harm when they were exposed to a 207-degree Fahrenheit (97
Celsius) steam release from a washing machine, OSHA records show.
____
Collins reported from Hartford, Connecticut. Associated Press writer
Holly Ramer in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed to this report.
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