[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.