Bucksnort Tennessee Disaster

[oldE]

Explosives factory went up. 19 not accounted for.
Prayers to the families.

Edit : sorry. Name should be Bucksnort.

[javadog]

Horrific explosion. Nothing left of the plant. RIP to all those affected.

[jyl]

I wonder how they’ll ever figure out what happened?

I imagine engineering an explosives manufacturing to be safe (as much as possible) is quite a task.

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by jyl

I wonder how they’ll ever figure out what happened?

I imagine engineering an explosives manufacturing to be safe (as much as possible) is quite a task.

I was thinking the same thing; but I actually came to a conclusion that there probably is a set of steps and clues that can lead investigators to the flashpoint. Lots of intelligent people out there.

But, good gosh, the pix of the aftermath are staggering.

[rfuerst911sc]

Just terrible , RIP to those killed and best wishes to their loved ones .

[Jeff Higgins]

The GOEX plant, one of the major suppliers of black powder to both the sporting market and the military, has blown up at least two times in my lifetime. Black powder manufacturing is notoriously dangerous, known for these kinds of accidents. As a result, and as a much needed safety measure, the stages of manufacturing during which black powder is vulnerable to being ignited are all performed remotely, with no humans in the building in which those steps take place. No one has been killed or injured the last couple of times this has happened, from what I recall.

Smokeless powder and modern explosives are infinitely safer to manufacture. I have never heard of a manufacturer of smokeless powder nor modern explosives having an explosion, nor any sort of an accident like this. I have to wonder just what exactly they were doing that led to this. Too early to say, certainly, but I would not be surprised if someone did this intentionally, what with today's hyper charged political climate. I hope, but realistically doubt, that an investigation will reveal the cause. I don't think there is enough left to do so forensically. Perhaps local video monitoring will reveal something. We do, after all, live in a "virtual panopticon" these days. It might prove difficult to approach and gain access to such a facility without someone's camera seeing you. If that is the case, let's hope that helps.

[KFC911]

Haven't seen any mention of this ...

Gotta look up Bucksnort now...

[rfuerst911sc]

Is there any chance static electricity caused this ? I am only mentioning this because of dry fall weather . Something went terribly wrong , total annihilation of the facility .

[oldE]

Thanks to the moderator who fixed the spelling in the title.
One more person has been accounted for. They were at home! Good day not to be at work.
I noticed from satellite images the company has smaller facilities spread over a large area. Very wise.

[HardDrive]

Incredible high energy explosion. I saw a surveillance camera video from 12 miles away. Even at that distance it was very sharp jolt that rocked the house.

[astrochex]

I wonder how they can get evidence of cause. Perhaps data monitoring?

[A930Rocket]

From some reading online, that was building 6, where they did melt and pour, of various explosives into different containers, shells, etc. The melting or kettles were on the second floor. There were twice as many people as normal, because it was shift change.

[jyl]

Same company had an explosion about a decade ago with fatalities. I wouldn’t assume foul play.

[masraum]

If this sort of thing happens, I guess the silver lining is that none of the folks killed probably felt a thing. At least it was probably quick and painless (happened so fast that they didn't have time to feel anything or understand what was happening).

[masraum]

Originally Posted by A930Rocket

From some reading online, that was building 6, where they did melt and pour, of various explosives into different containers, shells, etc. The melting or kettles were on the second floor. There were twice as many people as normal, because it was shift change.

That sucks.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by astrochex

I wonder how they can get evidence of cause. Perhaps data monitoring?

Considering that it looks like the building was wiped off the face of the earth, I can't imagine anything would be left to provide evidence of anything.

[A930Rocket]

Some people are saying that there’s no crater. That whatever explosive they were working with, was not a single high explosive blast but an extended blast, if that makes sense.

Post on Faceplant. There are a few posts from people who say, they are knowledgeable about explosives, etc. The rest are not.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Fnrbjozkp/?mibextid=wwXIfr

[oldE]

Number of dead now reduced to 16. Two more people thought to have been on site turned out to be elsewhere.
Regarding lack of crater: I suspect the construction of the building and its foundation allowed the non-focused nature of the explosion to dissipate its energy outwards and upward.
My heart goes out to the families who lost their loved ones.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by oldE

Number of dead now reduced to 16. Two more people thought to have been on site turned out to be elsewhere.
Regarding lack of crater: I suspect the construction of the building and its foundation allowed the non-focused nature of the explosion to dissipate its energy outwards and upward.
My heart goes out to the families who lost their loved ones.

I once worked in a aerosol/propellant lab. One wall was thin plywood and the roof was not attached to the walls in the standard manner. This was done so that any lab accident would not destroy or at least limit the damage to the surrounding structures.

So I have to believe that the building was built with pressure relief in the design.