3 am Blast Unwitnessed

AN AMMONIA EXPLOSION EARLY TUESDAY MORNING blew the doors off of a Reddy Ice plant in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

Channel 13

A police patrol driving through the Airport Industrial Park on his routine rounds where he found a strong smell of ammonia in the area.  He continued down the main road and found the doors, portions of the roof, and debris from the ice plant in the road and called the fire department.

The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports:

New Smyrna Beach Fire Division Chief Randy Wright said an apparent chemical leak inside the building ignited between 5:30 p.m. when the business closed and about 3:05 a.m. when a police officer on patrol in the neighborhood found blown out metal walls, a portion of a door blown away and damage to part of the roof.

"There was significant damage," Wright said. He also said the building was vacant at the time of the explosion and there were no injuries.

Channel 13

While the cause is still being investigated, New Smyrna Beach Fire Marshal Jeff Lariscy said a preliminary review seems to point to a slow ammonia leak filling part of the building before finding an ignition source.

"We are not sure how it happened," he said, although it is suspected the explosion may have been sparked by one of the numerous electric motors operating in the building almost around the clock.

Lariscy estimated the blast caused $300,000 damage to the building, including a 30-by-30-foot hole in the roof as well as forcing out roll-up and standard doors. The building's south wall also was blown out.

When the FD arrived on the scene they found that all the gas had largely dissipated from the area and an inspection of the surrounding area found no clouds or buildup of the product, other than the lingering smell.  The Haz-Mat crew's only task was to go inside the ice plant and shut off a valve.  Fortunately there were no residences in the general area that is primarily industrial.

Channel 13

There were no injuries and no fire damage other than the initial ignition flash.  No other businesses were affected.

News Channel 13 has more photos HERE.
New Smyrna Beach Fire & Rescue WEBSITE.

Hat tip:  Mark Donovan

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Luckily No Fatalities

UPDATE:  A citizen videographer caught the explosion – Scroll down

A COACHELLA, CALIFORNIA, MAN LEARNED AN EXPENSIVE LESSON on LPG tanks Saturday afternoon at 1:45 Pacific when his pickup truck blew up while waiting in a McDonald's drive-thru window line.

KESQ-TV / Jimenez

The man was driving around in 100-degree heat and the desert sun beating on two propane tanks, one 5-gal. tank and a 50-gal. tank, that he was carrying in his truck bed.  While waiting in line at the drive-thru, he heard a hissing sound coming from the tanks.  He got out of his truck and thought that the valve on the smaller tank had loosened open, so he tried to tighten it.  At that moment the leaking vapors ignitied explosively, setting the truck on fire.

As everybody in the area fled the scene and the restaurant was being evacuated, the smaller tank exploded sending debris and truck parts in all directions including the tailgate into another vehicle.  The large 50-gallon tank was propelled 75 ft. away but miraculously survived the blast and didn't fail.  Two young boys riding in the pickup cab were grabbed and carried away by passers-by before the explosion.

A CalFire spokesman explained that the excessive heat had caused the gas to expand and the pressure relief valve opened causing the sound that the driver mistook for an open valve.  When he slid out of the driver's seat he generated a static charge and as he grabbed the valve he sparked the leaking vapors.  The explosive-ignition set the truck on fire and burned the man's hands. 

UPDATE 11:30 am:
A citizen videographer caught the moment of the explosion in this video:

KESQ-TV Ch. 13 has more photos included in this video report:

The Palm Springs Desert Sun reported:

Someone at the scene took the man and his family to a local hospital before firefighters arrived …. Their lives are not in danger, according to the sheriff's department.

Indio police evacuated the restaurant while firefighters put out the fire, which was contained at 2:01 p.m.

There were no injuries among restaurant employees or customers, according to CalFire.

The fire destroyed the drive-through structure, but damage to the restaurant was minmal and they were back to flipping burgers later that afternoon.

CalFire photo

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Greek Easter Celebration Gets Out of Hand

TARPON SPRINGS, FLORIDA, HAS a sizeable Greek community and each year at Greek Easter part of their celebration consists of detonating homemade explosives that pack more punch than puny firecrackers.  This year however, one celebrant overdid it with the black powder package.

Early Sunday morning while the Orthodox Easter Services were underway in the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral, around the corner on Tarpon Ave. a mighty explosion rocked The Zone, a restaurant/bar, and an apartment building.  The Tampa Bay Times continues:

The Zone Lounge was crowded at the time of the explosion, said Tarpon Springs police Capt. Barbara Templeton, and many patrons were affected by flying glass and debris. At least two women were treated at the scene for lacerations.

The area was closed off for five hours while investigations proceeded.

The bomb detonated from atop a vacant building adjacent to and connected with the bar. Some apartments on the other side of the blast site also were seriously damaged, Templeton said, including windows blown out and glass and debris strewn across living rooms.

Patrons streamed out of the Zone Lounge, which authorities evacuated, some bleeding and many more "frightened out of their wits," she said.

The neighborhood quickly filled up with firetrucks and ambulances to check on the blast damages and treat the injured patrons.  While medics were tending to some people who were cut by flying glass shards, one of them went back outside to get more supplies and found out that his ambulance was gone.  The dispatch center quickly pinpointed its location via the GPS device and the police responded  and found it abandoned by the water treatment plant.

They soon located a man inside who shouldn't have been there and ordered him out.  As he approached, he was grasping two unidentfiable objects in each hand and refused to stop and get on the ground.  Instead, he made "menacing" actions and advanced toward the officers who then gave him a Taser massage.  After taking him into custody they learned that the objects were a flashlight and a potato.  They also found a tomato in his pocket.  When asked repeatedly to give his name, the ambulance driver told them he was "Spartacus", then he became "Maggie" and "Shadow."  He was charged with grand theft, burglary, and resisting arrest with violence.

Spartacus awaits an alternative transportation mode.

At last word, the investigation into who set off the ka-boom was continuing.

The Tampa Bay Times has the STORY HERE.
ABC News has MORE HERE plus this video report:

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Google Street View of The Zone and the vacant building
next door where the device was detonated.  Two other
businesses to the right of the pub were damaged also.

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OSHA Comes Down Hard

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS CITED a grain company for "willful" safety violations and is proposing a large fine on the Bartlett Grain Co. of Kansas City.  The charges stem from a violent and deadly grain elevator explosion last October 29 in Atchison, Kansas, that killed six people and blew the top off the silos.  See the original Firegeezer report HERE.

Kansas City Star photo

The Associated Press is reporting:

U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said in a news release the deaths at the Bartlett Grain Co. elevator in Atchison "could have been prevented" if the operators had addressed hazards known in the industry. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is seeking $406,000 in penalties in addition to the citations alleging five willful and eight serious safety violations.

Among the willful violations, OSHA alleges Bartlett Grain allowed grain dust, which is nine times as explosive as coal dust, to accumulate and used compressed air to remove dust without first shutting down ignition sources. OSHA defines a willful violation as one committed with intentional knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirements or with plain indifference to worker safety and health.

The serious violations, defined as those with a substantial probability of death or serious physical harm, include claims that there was a lack of preventative maintenance and that the housekeeping program was deficient because it didn’t prevent grain dust accumulations.

Bartlett and an independent inspection service company that was also cited, are both planning to appeal the charges.

Read the entire article HERE.

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AN OREGON BOY WAS CRITICALLY BURNED Sunday afternoon when his mother tried to aid the igniting of charcoal by squirting fuel onto it.  At 4 pm Pacific time a neighbor placed a 9-1-1 call to report and explosion next door in Aloha, Oregon.  Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue responded and found a 6-yr.-old with severe burns to his arms and face along with an adult male with minor burns over his upper body.

Questioning disclosed that the boy's mother was trying to start a backyard barbecue grill's charcoal briquettes but having limited success.  So she picked up a 1-gallon can of a highly-explosive fuel and started squiritng it on the charcoal.  The already-hot briquettes ignited the fuel and followed the stream back into the can causing it to explode and shower everyone around it with flaming fuel.

The exploding fuel blew the can apart sending a spray
of flaming high-octane fuel over the victims.
(Washington County Sheriff photo)

The fire investigator learned that it was a product called Top Fuel, a commercial mixture of gasoline and nitrous oxide that is used for high-powered radio controlled cars and planes.

The boy is hospitalized in critical condition, but is expected to survive.  In addition to the burns to his face and arms, he suffered inhalation burns also.  The sheriff dept. says that no criminal charges will be made.

The Oregonian has the STORY.

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Flames 300 ft. High

A CHEMICAL PLANT IN AN INDUSTRIAL PARK IN MARL, Germany, had an explosion-like event Saturday afternoon that started a large fire.

Reuters

The blast at the Evonic chemical company took place in an area where CDT is produced, a component in many specialty plastics.  The explosion occurred around 2:15 pm and immediately released a fireball and leaving flames estimated to be 100 metres high.

The fire brigades have over 100 firefighters at the scene. (photo by Schaper)

A yet-unknown number of people have been injured, some seriously and one person was found dead by firefighters later into the operation.  Three people were initially reported missing, but two of them turned up at their homes and the third was later located.

dpa

An early estimate indicates that it might have been a boiler that blew up starting the fire, but what caused it is not known yet.  The event is still going and no further information is available yet.

Bild has the early STORY.
Munstersche Zeitung has MORE.

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 "Just wanted to drop a line and say what a great blog you have going.
It keeps me up to date with everything that's happening around the fire world!
Thanks, and keep up the good work."

Locally Notable for Chicken Zoning Dispute

ROSWELL, GEORGIA, POLICE SAY THAT Andrew Wordes, 53 and known locally as "Chicken Man." is presumed to be the person found dead in his suburban house following a massive explosion yesterday while he was being served with an eviction notice.  Marshals arrived at his home Monday to serve the notice and he would not permit them inside nor answer his door.  They saw him through a window and began verbally providing the service.  WSB-TV picks up the story:

Channel 2’s Mike Petchenik went to Wordes’ home on Alpine Drive, where Fulton County Marshals were gathered outside for the eviction Monday. Wordes told Petchenik he was scheduled for a court appearance that morning on a traffic citation but feared Marshals would repossess his home while he was gone, so he didn’t go.

Wordes called Petchenik and asked him to tell the Marshals to leave the property because it "wasn’t going to be pretty." Then, the home exploded.

"I appreciate everything, brother. I appreciate everything you've done," he told Petchenik before the explosion.

WSB-TV Ch. 2

The fire department confirmed that gasoline had been spread throughout the house and that a body had been found.  It has not been positively identified yet, however.

Wordes gained notoriety a few years ago following a conflict with the zoning authorities over his illegal raising of livestock on his property.  After serving three months in jail following his conviction for repeatedly disregarding the zoning violation notices he was given, Wordes had fallen behind in his mortgage payments and was being foreclosed on.  Fox News explains the background:

Wordes lived in the two-story home on a quiet street for about 13 years and started raising poultry in 2005. At first he had only a few chickens, and most neighbors didn't seem to mind. But the complaints started pouring in after he got dozens more chickens, roosters that crowed day and night and then pigs, goats and dogs.

Andrew Wordes  (FoxAtlanta file photo)

The city cited him for raising livestock in 2009, and Wordes made a splash on the Internet. Former Gov. Roy Barnes decided to represent him in his fight with Roswell, and his supporters wore yellow T-shirts and "I Love Chickens" buttons to a court hearing. A judge eventually dismissed the case against him but a few months later Roswell lawmakers approved new rules banning roosters and restricting the number of chickens residents can keep.

Read the entire FoxNews report HERE.
WSB-TV has more plus a photo gallery HERE.

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One Tough Old Bird

FIREFIGHTERS IN VENDEE, FRANCE, WERE CALLED out last week for a house explosion.  The neighborhood of mostly-vacation homes was shaken just before 9 pm last Friday when the violent explosion shook the whole area, causing many calls to the emergency center.

all photos via SDIS 85

When the firefighters arrived on the scene they found a single-story home completely blown apart.  Four terraced houses around it were impacted and damaged by the explosion caused by a gas leak, apparently.

Forty-four firefighters arrived to begin rescue efforts for the occupants and after digging through the rubble they found a 90-year-old woman, alive and conscious.  She was taken to the hospital where she is in serious condition.  She was the only occupant.

This story and more photos are posted on the fire department's – SDIS 85 – own website HERE.

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Evading Border Checkpoint

A U. S. BORDER PATROL AGENT spotted a car driving north in the southbound lanes of I-8 in San Diego County, California, Thursday morning.  This is a common tactic of smugglers who do this on the stretch of Interstate where a border checkpoint station is located, so they are on the watch for it.

The agent picked up the car and drove parallel to it in the northbound lanes while watching its travels.  When the smuggler took the ramp off to another roadway, there was a police vehicle waiting there with a spike strip.

The San Diego Union-Tribune continues:

Border Patrol agents at the Old Highway 80 checkpoint set out spike strips, which the Ford ran over. With blown tires, the car came to a halt about half a mile east of the checkpoint.

As the agent who had been in pursuit walked up to the Ford, it burst into flames, Justin De La Torre, acting assistant chief patrol agent, said. The agent was knocked back from the blast. He suffered minor burns and cuts from flying glass, Border Patrol Agent Michael Jimenez said. Flames quickly engulfed the car, and the driver — who remained inside — died.

Union-Tribune

The agent, whose name was not released, was flown by helicopter to a hospital.  He was treated and released in the afternoon.

The Union-Tribune has the details HERE.

KGTV Ch. 10 has the video report:

The agents are still trying to determine what caused the explosion.  They say that they don't have any physical evidence of any contraband yet, but a lot of questions remain to be answered.

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It Just Rolled Out of a Junked Car

AN AUTOMOBILE JUNK YARD NEAR HONOLULU, Hawai'i, was the scene of an explosion and fire Tuesday afternoon.

KHON-TV

When an operator of the yard excavator rolled over a car to be picked up, an acetylene cylinder rolled out breaking the valve.  As the leak began, a spark ignited the gas and it exploded.  The excavator operater was burned and had to be transported to the hospital in serious condition.

The explosion started a fire in the junkyard that involved a pile of tires and sent a column of thick smoke up that could be seen for miles away.  The Honolulu Fire Department responded and had the fire out in about an hour.  Damage is estimated at $300,000.

KHON-TV Ch. 2 has more in their story HERE.  They also filed this video report:

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