Joseph Loverde was working at his buffer in the Haber Corp.'s four-story metal-products factory in Chicago last week when a belt slipped off the machine. Sparks flew, and with a whoosh ignited the fine aluminum dust that hung in the air. "It was like looking into a big gun and having it go off in your face," a bandage-swathed survivor recalled afterward.
Flames shot 300 ft. high, licked through the shattered windows in long, horizontal tongues. Screaming and shouting, terrified workers, with clothing ablaze, ran toward the single fire escape. Others, finding the escapeway jammed, jumped from upper-story windows.
Sifting through smoking...
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