AFR: 2 Smith's employees critically injured in explosion at West Side store

Matthew Reisen, Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
·1 min read

Aug. 4—Two workers were critically injured in an explosion Thursday morning at a Smith's grocery store in Northwest Albuquerque.

Albuquerque Fire Rescue Lt. Tom Ruiz said the employees suffered "significant burn injuries" and were taken to the hospital. He said the pair were doing scheduled maintenance on an HVAC compressor when it exploded.

"Something malfunctioned and that's what caused the explosion," he said.

Ruiz said AFR responded around 10:45 a.m. to reports of an explosion at the Smith's at 111 Coors NW, north of Central. He said fire crews doused a small fire in the maintenance room where the explosion was reported.

Ruiz said employees were evacuated and the two injured workers were taken to a hospital. He said AFR checked the air quality as firefighters worked to ventilate the store.

"Out of an abundance of caution, (the Albuquerque Police Department) was notified due to the initial explosion," Ruiz said. "Several of the adjacent businesses were also evacuated to ensure no exposures had occurred."