SEBASTIAN RAMIREZ/Acorn Newspapers ON SCENE—Firefighters discuss their next move Monday in the aftermath of a pressure-related "boom" which occurred at Realm Industries, an alternative energy company located at 2320 N. Shasta Way. One person suffered minor injuries as a result of the accident. What was first reported as an explosion at a commercial building in Simi Valley Monday evening was actually a blast caused by a tank used to create alternative fuel out of water.

The incident occurred in an industrial park at 2320 N. Shasta Way at 5:41 p.m., county fire officials said.

Capt. Ron Oatman, a spokesman for the Ventura County Fire Department, said describing the event as an explosion is not accurate because there was no fire involved.

"It was a boom," he said. "It was basically a pressurereleasetype of explosion."

One man suffered minor to moderate burn injuries on his hand and ankle, but he was transported to a hospital by private party before the fire department arrived on scene, Oatman said.

Contrary to previous reports, a hydrogen cylinder did not blow its top off.

Tim Larson, director of Realm Industries, which operates out of the industrial unit where the boom occurred, said the "boom" was caused by the mechanical failure of a valve on top of a 40-gallon carbon fiber wrapped tank—the same kind of tank used on the compressed natural gas buses seen around town.

"We use water to help create an alternative energy source," Larson said. "It can be used as a fuel, it helps with water purification, and how we do it is a patentpending process."

Larson said that during the transfer of fuel from one tank to another, the valve on the second tank cracked and blew off, causing the gas to be emitted. The lights above the tank then acted as a high-energy spark that "ignited" the gas.

However, because the gas is simply water, it didn't burn; instead, it created a vacuum and imploded, he said.

"There was an industrial door in the back of the building that was basically blown out, kind of like a sail, and (the boom) actually blew some holes into the roof," Oatman said. "The whole thing is very baffling."

The tin commercial roll-up door caught the pressure of the sonic wave because it was the weakest point in the room, Larson said. There was no other damage to the unit or the equipment inside.

The blast happened directly across from the office of Sonrise Christian Fellowship, where about 100 homeless and needy had begun to gather for the church's weekly food pantry.

Oatman said that people were initially evacuated from the area as a precaution until the department determined the cause of the boom.