Washington Examiner senior columnist Salena Zito noted the importance of steelworkers amid the loss of two employees who died in an explosion at a US Steel plant during her appearance on the Hugh Hewitt Show.

“Look, these men and women, they believe their jobs are very patriotic, that what they do not only make our lives better and easier and more convenient, but that they also are the men and women who keep our country secure,” Zito said on the Hugh Hewitt Show on Wednesday.

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Zito noted that the work is important, as even the strike against Iran that took place in June was thanks to a bomb made of U.S. steel. 

Pennsylvania’s Monongahela Valley has three steel plants within a 10-mile radius: Clairton, Edgar Thompson, and Urban Works.

“This is very tragic for the US Steel family,” Zito said. “This is like family.”

Clairton boasts a workforce of 1,300 daily workers. The plant is closed, but the residents of the surrounding area are no longer under a stay-at-home order.

THE BALLAD OF CLAIRTON: AN ALL AMERICAN CITY IN MOURNING

Last year, World Steel reported 67 fatalities in its industry worldwide, the lowest on record. 

The recent Clairton Coke Works explosion that killed two and injured nine has yet to determine what caused the explosion.