THE “QUIET” TOWN OF HEBER CITY, UTAH, WAS ANYTHING BUT on Monday afternoon. A fire started in or near a large storage building used by the Hicken Oxygen Co. The fire spread into the building and directly led to the pressure explosions of about 40 cylinders, mostly oxygen and a few acetylene.
The ground-shaking explosions continued about an hour, keeping the FD at bay while the building burned. All during the time, a constant rain of debris, metal parts and lumber dropped out of the sky leading the police dept. to evacuate everybody within a 4-block radius. The vibrations and concussions broke windows and set off car alarms several blocks away. Electric power to about 3/4 of the town was disrupted for a while.
KSL-TV Salt Lake City filed this video report:
KUTV reporter Fields Moseley relates:
“There was nothing I could do,” said Lynn Hicken, the owner of the garage. It set behind his home and housed the oxygen and acetylene business his father started more than 80 years ago.
“A couple of smaller booms, then mushroom cloud boom,” said neighbor, Donna Allen.
The explosions quickly got neighbors attention. Many rushed around checking on neighbors as shrapnel and debris shot into the air.
KUTV / Moseley photo
Miraculously, nobody was injured from the incident. Investigators are working today to determine how and where the fire started.
The Deseret News has the STORY.
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