The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1954-06-05
"Atomic-Like"
Blasts Rock
Chemical Plant
West Virginia
Countryside Is
Shaken, So Hurt

Countryside Is
Shaken, So Hurt
CHARLESTON, VIVA. R-Tons
Of water pumped from the Kama
wha River held at bay today a
dangerous chemical plant fire af-
ter a series of five "atomic-like"
explosions shook the countryside
and injured at least So persons.
Company officials said as far as
they could tell all personnel were
accounted for. About 200 men were
working in the Institute plant of
the Carbide and Carbon Chemicals
Corp. about II miles west of here,
when a tank car exploded and set
off a chain of four other blasts.
A spokesman said there was a
possibility" some might have
been caught in the blast area. He
would not elaborate other than to
say there had been no roll CALI
Of employees.
Employees Hurt
About 40 of those hurt were en-
ployes of the plant. The others in
cluded numerous persons cut or
otherwise injured by glass and fly
ing debris.
Uncounted property damage re-
suited from the blasts heard or
felt within a 15-mile radius of the
sprawling plant in the heart of
West Virginia's chemical valley.
It was more than five hours be-
fore firemen got the upper hand
on the huge fire in the styrene
plant. Until electric power could
be restored and water pumped
from the nearby river, the fire
ragged unabated.
Homes and business places were
shaken and windows shattered in
South Charleston, st. Adams, In
stitute and Dunbar, spotted a few
miles apart along the heavily-in-
dustrialized river front.
Fire Ball Seen
The first explosion, with a fire
ball strikingly like that from an
atomic blast, occurred about 7:40
pm. EST. Four hours later, fire
men were beginning to gain on the
chemical-fed blaze.
Delbert Simmons of Dunbar,
driving past the plant at the time
of the first explosion, said "all /
could see was a big flash of white
fire and my car turned around"
The original blast and four sue
ceeding ones spread fear and con-
sternation throughout the area. At
Watt Powell Baseball Park in
Charleston, the first explo-
sion sounded like a roll of thunder.
Pete ,Droddy, who resides about
1h miles from the Institute plant,
said the first blast rocked his
house.
"The third blast looked like a
gigantic mushroom" he said. 1.-THE
smoke and flames seemed to rise
about 300 to 400 feet into the air.
1t Jared pictures from the walls
in houses all around here and
broke windows"
Droddy said he felt the cheat
on my face but I didn't feel any
shock"
No Shock Wave
Neil BoggS, a Charleston Gazette
reporter who witnessed atomic
tests in Nevada while in the Army,
said the fifth and last explosion
was "the biggest thing I've seen
since the atomic bomb. It lasted
about two minutes and gave off a
terrific, suffocating, soaring heat,
but there was no shock wave"
A. Rankin Donachy Of st. Adams
Stop IA, across the Kanawha and
about 100 yards downstream, said
lit was just like an earthquake"
A one and a half story masonry
and cinder block kennel on Dona-
chy's property was split horizon
tally from the force of the explo-
sions. The crack, about two inches
wide and 30 feet long, ran across
both sides of the structure.
The first blast was followed by
three secondary ones as storage
vessels for chemicals were set off.
The last blast was about an hour
after the first.
Power Cut of
Telephone service was virtually
cut off between Institute, Dunbar
and Charleston.
The explosions knocked out cleo.
trio power at the plant and efforts
to halt the fire were hampered by
lack of water. Not until about
hours after the first blast, were
the firemen able to pump water
from the river.
There was no way to determine
how many of those injured, scat
tered in hospitals throughout the
area, might be in critical con-
dition.
DR.. Richard A. Sexton, plant
physician, was injured seriously In
an automobile accident on his way
to the scene.
Institute is one Of several plants
in the populous area operated by
subsidiary companies of the big
Union Carbide and Carbon Corp.
The plant manufactures basic
raw materials used in the making