McEwen, Tenn. (AP) — An explosion in rural Tennessee that destroyed an explosives plant and was felt for miles left no survivors, authorities said Saturday.
The total number of deaths, as well as the cause of Friday’s explosion, was not clear. By the end of the week, the devastation had come into focus, with officials saying they had found no survivors. A total of 16 people are missing, officials said.
“There’s a great deal of emotion out there,” Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said during a news conference, pausing to clear his throat before asking for prayers for the victims’ families in a trembling voice.
He added: “We were unable to recover any survivors.”
During the vigil at Hurricane Church in McEwen, Senior Pastor Tim Faris noted that many of those attending knew each other and knew the victims and their families.
“There are a lot of people hurting. A lot of people are crying a lot of tears,” he said. “We are sad that our community is going through this, but it is a tremendous opportunity for the church to serve many of these people today.”
Fares said he spoke with some of the victims’ families on Friday who were in a state of shock and numbness, and did not show much emotion. That changed by Saturday, he said.
“I spoke to some families today, and they were very emotional,” Faris said. “They can barely talk or anything, they’re so emotional. I think as this goes on it’s going to affect more people. The depth of this, the reality of it. Then they’re going to be desperate for people.”
Pamela Jean Brown was among those who came out to pray for friends lost in the explosion and their families. She said a family acquaintance was driving near the factory when it exploded, and he was “badly injured…he was all cut up and bruised”, but is now recovering at home.
“I felt very sad,” she said after learning of the explosion on social media. Gathering with others to pray “was like a community coming together — and it feels good.”
State officials brought in a “rapid DNA” team to help identify the remains of people recovered from the site.
The explosion left a smoldering wreckage of twisted metal and burned-out compounds at the Precision Energy Systems plant, which supplies and researches explosives to the military.
About 300 responders are working in a “slow and methodical manner” as they deal with explosive materials that have been damaged and are still explosive, Davis said. An ambulance and a helicopter used for air evacuations were brought in for the safety of first responders.
“It’s not like working in an accident. It’s not like working in a hurricane. We’re dealing with explosions. I would say at this time, we’re dealing with remains,” he said.
Explosives specialists and bomb technicians are trying to make the area safe before national ATF investigators arrive, said Jay McCormick, supervising special agent with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. He said that the nature of the scene could change due to the heat and pressure resulting from the explosion.
Davis said it could take days, weeks or even months before foul play is ruled out.
The site is located in a densely forested area of central Tennessee, between the economically vital Tennessee River to the west and the bustling city of Nashville to the east. The wooded landscape is dotted with modest homes, homesteads owned by “good old country folk,” as local man Terry Bagsby puts it.
“A lot of sadness”
Bagsby, 68, is retired but helps run the register at a gas station near the site. He said people in the close-knit community are “very sad.”
He said he knew people who worked at the site and were missing.
“I don’t know how to explain it…just a lot of sadness.”
Earlier Saturday afternoon, at the church in McEwen, about 30 people prayed together for the victims of the explosions and their families. As they prayed, music played and mourners bowed their heads and closed their eyes. Some knelt at the altar and placed their hands on each other’s shoulders. Some cried quietly amid whispered prayers.
After the vigil, Pastor Fares told the media that the area had seen its share of tragedy and loss of life, including the deadly floods that occurred a few years ago. He asked for prayers for first responders.
“This is physically exhausting. This kind of stuff takes a toll on you mentally. They carry that home. They need prayer and encouragement, too,” he said.
The company’s website says it processes explosives and ammunition at an eight-building facility sprawling across the wooded hills of Bucksnort, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) southwest of Nashville. It was not immediately known how many people worked at the factory or how many people were there when the explosion occurred.
Accurate Energetic Systems, based in nearby McEwen, said in a social media post on Friday that their “thoughts and prayers” are with the families and communities affected.
“We extend our gratitude to all first responders who continue to work tirelessly under difficult circumstances,” the post read.
An explosion shakes residents from sleep
The company has received numerous military contracts, largely by the U.S. Army and Navy, to supply various types of munitions and explosives, according to public records. Products range from bulk explosives to land mines and small penetration charges, including C4.
When the explosion occurred, residents of Loubellville, a 20-minute drive from the scene, said they felt their homes shaking, and some people captured the loud bang on their home cameras.
The explosion jolted Gentry Stover from his sleep.
“I thought the house had collapsed with me in it,” he told the Associated Press. “I live near Accurate, and I realized about 30 seconds after I woke up that it had to be this way.”
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee posted on the social media platform
A small group gathered for a vigil Friday night in a nearby park, holding candles as they prayed for the missing and their families and sang “Amazing Grace.”
The United States has a long history of fatal workplace accidents, including the Monongah coal mine explosion that killed 362 men and boys in West Virginia in 1907. Several high-profile industrial accidents in the 1960s helped prompt President Richard Nixon to sign legislation creating the Occupational Safety and Health Administration the following year.
In 2019, Accurate Energetic Systems faced several small fines from the U.S. Department of Labor for violating policies intended to protect workers from exposure to hazardous chemicals, radiation and other irritants, according to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) citations.
In 2014, an explosion occurred at another munitions facility in the same small community, killing one person and wounding at least three others.
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Associated Press writers Mike Catalini in Mooresville, Pennsylvania; Sarah Brumfield, in Cockeysville, Maryland; Hannah Schoenbaum, in Salt Lake City; Cathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; Kimberly Crossey in Providence, Rhode Island; Haley Golden in Seattle contributed to this report.