Patricia Borges: Woman shares scary details after surviving chocolate factory explosion by falling into vat of liquid chocolate
WEST READING, PENNSYLVANIA: Patricia Borges, a survivor of the RM Palmer chocolate factory explosion that killed seven people and injured several others, recounted her miraculous escape from the factory on March 25th in West Reading, Pennsylvania. Borges narrowly escaped death as she fell into a vat of liquefied confection, which extinguished the fire on her arm and saved her life.
However, the fall broke her collarbone and heels, leaving her helpless. For nine hours, Borges waited for help as emergency responders tackled the blaze. She clung to a floating piece of plastic pipe and waited for help.
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'I thought it was the end for me'
"When I began to burn, I thought it was the end for me," Borges, 50, told The Associated Press. In the middle of the night, she saw a light and cried out to the responders. She was then taken to safety.
"I asked God why he was giving me such a horrible death. I asked him to save me, that I didn't want to die in the fire," Borges said she and others had complained about a gas odor about 30 minutes before the factory blew up.
She is angry Palmer didn't immediately evacuate. She said the deaths of her co-workers, including her close friend Judith Lopez-Moran, could have been prevented. "I wanted to speak so that this will be prevented in the future," Borges said before adding, "For my colleague Judy, I want there to be justice."
A GoFundMe page set up for her details her survival, "The blast knocked Patricia forward onto the floor. A fire broke out almost immediately, setting her right arm ablaze. She attempted to move forward among the fire and debris when she fell through the damaged floor, dropping her into a liquid chocolate holding tank below. The chocolate extinguished the flames on her arm," the fundraising website set up by the family stated. It continues, "She stared up through the opening in the tank as the inferno filled the air above her. She backed herself further into the tank as the fire was entering through the same opening she fell through."
As fire extinguishers began dosing off the flames, the situation got tricky for Borges, "The flames backed off as firefighters went to work outside. The water they were spraying began filling the tank she was in. Fearing that she could drown in the tank, Patricia pulled herself out of the tank while suffering from a broken clavicle that previously went unnoticed." It adds, "She hopped off of the tank and dropped down into a pool of water that had accumulated in the basement. Her legs ached terribly. She later learned that she had broken both of her heels." Coming to the surface of the water, she grabbed hold of the tubing that was hanging in the basement. She sat there calling out for help for the next nine hours.
Investigation continues
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has opened an investigation into the explosion, which federal investigators have said may have been caused by natural gas. "NTSB is continuing to gather evidence about how the building was supplied with natural gas and point of ignition, interview witnesses, examine the pipeline for fractures, any damage to the pipeline, a chronology of events leading up to the explosion, among other issues that may come up as the investigation continues," an agency spokesperson said earlier this week as per a report.
Pennsylvania State Police are also investigating the blast. RM Palmer said in a statement Saturday that everyone at the company was "devastated" and it was reaching out to employees and their families through first responders and disaster recovery organizations because its communication systems were down.
'I wanted to speak so that this will be prevented in the future'
On Friday, community members in West Reading held a vigil for the seven victims of the incident, which injured another 10 people. "It's been tough. One of my girlfriends was Sue, who passed away. We had the funeral today... It's been tough," Bambi Cipolla, an RM Palmer employee, told WPVI. Borges hopes that her experience will help prevent future accidents like the one at the factory. "I wanted to speak so that this will be prevented in the future," she said.