A dry cleaning machine exploded late Tuesday morning at Fleming Cleaners at 903 North Poplar in Centralia.
Centralia Fire Chief Blake Perez says debris, including the front door of the machine, flew about 15 feet until hitting a wall. A handle struck co-owner Virgilia Detering of Centralia in the right arm. She was transported to SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital in Centralia for treatment of injuries.
Her son, who is also co-owner, was in the building at the time but was not hit by debris.
Perez says the dry cleaning process uses chemicals which may have set off the explosion. He reports there was no actual fire. There was some smoke reported, but Perez believes it was actually dry powder that blew into the air.
Centralia Fire officials say the Illinois Department of Labor and OSHA are joining the investigation into what happened.
The incident was reported at 10:44 Tuesday morning.
