Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 15, 1993 TAG: 9303150040
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER and STEPHEN FOSTER STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: INDEPENDENCE LENGTH: Medium
BLAST DESTROYS PLANT
An explosion destroyed the main plant and offices Saturday of Nautilus Inc., one of Grayson County's major industries.The cause was not known Sunday, although Grayson County Public Information Officer Danny Snow speculated that it may have been caused by a buildup of propane gas. Snow said a portion of the business's roof may have collapsed earlier, rupturing a propane line.
The blast was heard 12 miles away and broke windows and caused exterior damage to several nearby homes, Snow said. No one was injured, but some people were startled.
"I thought the house was collapsing," said Garnetta Cox, whose house is about 250 feet away from the plant. The explosion shook frames and knocked mirrors off the walls. "I said, `Lord, what is it?' We were real frightened."
Cox said she and her husband soon realized it was the Nautilus plant, but "you couldn't see it for the snow and wind. It was a couple of hours later before I realized the whole impact of it."
It took firefighters more than 15 minutes to get to the site, about three-quarters of a mile from the Independence Fire Department. The blast occurred about 3 p.m. Some of the volunteer firefighters had to walk to the fire station because of the snow, he said.
Dan Baldwin, the company's president and chief executive officer, said that because of the weather conditions it was impossible to assess the damage or determine the cause of the apparent explosion.
The company, a manufacturer of exercise equipment, has three plant buildings and will obtain new equipment to shift production into the others, he said.
The clean-up will help keep many of the company's 260 employees on the job, Baldwin said. "We've got a big mess to clean up there, and we can probably work many of the people."
Baldwin said all engineering drawings and backup computer data were taken off the grounds when the plant closed for the weekend. "So we do have all of our records."
"We're glad that we were not operating at the time," Baldwin said. "Of course, had we been there, it probably wouldn't have happened."
Sunday morning at a nearby shopping center, the fire department had to put out a blaze at the Guynn Furniture Store after the back part of the store's roof collapsed from the weight of snow.
Snow said the cause of the fire was probably electrical, caused by the wires damaged when the roof collapsed. No one was injured, Snow said.