Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 17, 1993 TAG: 9302170183
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG and MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: FAIRLAWN LENGTH: Medium
NO ONE HURT IN ARSENAL BLAST
No one was hurt in an explosion at the Radford Army Ammunition Plant that shook the New River Valley on Tuesday.But there will be temporary layoffs for some employees who worked near the No. 2 nitroglycerin manufacturing area. Nitroglycerin operations have been suspended.
A storehouse was heavily damaged and there was some structural damage to surrounding buildings, said Nicole Kinser, public affairs officer for the arsenal.
An investigation team from the arsenal's Rock Island, Ill., headquarters, will arrive at the plant today. Hercules Inc., which runs the plant for the Army, will conduct an investigation of its own.
The investigation team will determine the amount of damage and decisions will be made regarding employment levels, Kinser said.
There were no answers Tuesday - only thanks that there were no injuries. "We were lucky," Kinser said.
The last nitroglycerin explosion, in 1985, left two workers dead.
Since then, the arsenal has switched to a fully automated, remote-controlled nitroglycerin operation.
Thirty minutes after the 2:35 p.m. explosion, cars were streaming in for the shift change at the arsenal, which employs about 2,000 workers.
Tuesday afternoon, family members called the arsenal, trying to reach their loved ones.
At the Christiansburg Police Station, Myra Webb took call after call.
"Our lines were inundated," she said. "People were calling to report windows shaking or say they felt the ground move. I kept telling people we'd check into it."
But as she answered these calls, Webb worried about her husband, who had just started on his shift at the arsenal's.
"It's hard to keep taking calls and being calm when you're sitting here going `Oh, please, God. Oh, please,' " said Webb, the station's 911 administrator.