Author Topic: Explosion at Nosler Bullet Co.  (Read 1527 times)

Offline yankee2500

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Explosion at Nosler Bullet Co.
« on: June 03, 2010, 12:17:40 PM »
Here is a cut and paste from an article my friend sent me. Yes, its true I checked a few other websites


BEND, Ore. -- An explosion and fire rocked a portion of the Nosler Inc. bullet manufacturing plant in southwest Bend Wednesday afternoon, prompting evacuation and closure of streets in the area; despite a blast felt for several blocks, all 100 workers were accounted for.

The fire was reported initially as a smoke report shortly after 2 p.m. at the facility at 107 SW Columbia St., which was evacuated. By 2:15 p.m., there were reports that an explosion had destroyed part of the building. But by 3 p.m., reports from the scene were that all workers on scene at the time of the blast had been accounted for.

A company spokesman said he was told that around 2 p.m., work was under way in the ballistics tunnel, a testing area for ammunition, when there was a flash, followed by smoke, and moments later by a massive explosion.

Fire crews arrived at the 80,000-square-foot, 22-year-old facility to find extensive damage to athe southeast corner of the building, said Fire Inspector Jeff Bond.

A special rescue operations team combed the wreckage to be sure all were accounted for, while city building officials helped evaluate the damage and hazards for crews performing mop-up and overhaul operaions.

An extensive investigation will be conducted by Bend Fire, law enforcement agencies and - because of the bullets manufactured there - the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

Bend Fire's Bond said the quick evacuation by workers was "instrumental in a safe and effective exit from the structure."

"The company instituted and practiced building evacuations over the years, and this policy paid off today," Bond said in a news release.

A damage figure still was being compiled, for a facility valued at $2.8 million for the structure and $10 million worth of contents, but Bond said it clearly was "pretty extensive."

Columbia Street remained shut into the evening hours. Firefighters asked the public to avoid the area for their safety and that of emergency workers.

Bend Fire did a personnel callback to ensure adequate staffing and called in Redmond and Sunriver firefighters for mutual aid coverage of the North and South stations.

About 100 people work in the Nosler facility, a company founded in the late 1940s by John Nosler. Witnesses said there was a flash in the ballistics-testing tunnel area of the facility, and everybody apparently got out before the blast hit.

One nearby resident described the blast as like "feeling a bomb inside your house." After her house shook violently, she looked out to see a huge plume of orange smoke that she couldn't see through.

Barb Gonzalez at first thought it was an earthquake, when her house was jolted by the blast. "This one felt like a 5.5 (magnitude) jolt", said the survivor of the 1994 Northridge quake. Her second thought was an explosion.

Bella Blackney recounted: "All of a sudden the house shakes, and the glass is rumbling in all the windows, visibly - all the glass shook. Really intense. For a second I thought a bomb went off."

Bend Fire called in a special operations team to go through the rubble, which apparently buried at least one evacuated worker's car in debris.

People several blocks away said the explosion rattled their office windows.
  
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Offline JHatmaker

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Re: Explosion at Nosler Bullet Co.
« Reply #1 on: June 03, 2010, 02:00:20 PM »
Wow, glad no one got hurt.
Is that a 9mm in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?