Otis Collier

An employee from Kirbyville with the MeadWestvaco plant in Evadale who was injured last Tuesday afternoon at the mill died from his injuries Friday afternoon.

Otis Deon Collier, 41, died Friday at Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston. He had been employed with the mill for 16 years.

According to information from the company’s public relations manager, Penny Sullivan, a flash fire occurred at about 2:45 p.m. on Tuesday, June 30. 

The flash fire occurred at a chemical unloading area at the plant and lasted just a few seconds. Collier was operating a piece of machinery near an area where chemicals are unloaded and according to family members, a spark may have caused a flash fire. The company has been investigating the cause of the fire.

Collier was burned over 90 percent of his body from the flash fire which lasted just seconds. He was life-flighted by a helicopter ambulance from the mill to Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston for treatment. 

The accident at the mill comes just a few weeks after the mill restarted its No. 2 machine, which was closed temporarily for a few months. The No. 2 machine was shut down by the plant due to economic downtime. The company announced the shutdown on April 1, laying off about 36 employees. The economic downtime was taken to match production with demand, as orders had slowed for MeadWestvaco due to the global economic downturn.

The No. 2 paper machine produces approximately 550 tons of paperboard per day.

The Evadale mill produces bleached paperboard, which is used for consumer packaging and serves customers in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, media and entertainment, food, beverage and tobacco companies. 

The MeadWestvaco plant in Evadale employs over 800 people and is the largest employer in Jasper County.

Coleman’s Mortuary is handling funeral arrangements for Collier. A funeral service for Collier is set for 11 a.m. in Kirbyville at the Central Baptist Church. Burial will follow at the West Greenlawn Cemetery.