That was the most incredible noise I have ever heard!
Wed Nov 22, 2006 4:59 pm
Shannon and I were awakened at 2:46am by an explosion at a Chemical Plant located .8 Mi. from our apartment. The company was destroyed along with damage to somewhere near 70 homes, just a few blocks from here.
There is debris everywhere, cars, boats and several businesses are destroyed also. Among the damaged homes, windows are all gone, some three streets away, others entire walls buckled, a few off their foundations.
I was amazed by the concussion and hearing the sound waves rolling away from our area. They are saying that it was heard as far away as the coast of Maine. I have heard loud noises that were impressive but this was even better than the lightning strike on the "Doc" Hangar at Boeing Wichita.
The news helo's are still circling outside 14 hours later and I am going to watch big bad Ted Kennedy say something really impressive at a press conference too!
There is debris everywhere, cars, boats and several businesses are destroyed also. Among the damaged homes, windows are all gone, some three streets away, others entire walls buckled, a few off their foundations.
I was amazed by the concussion and hearing the sound waves rolling away from our area. They are saying that it was heard as far away as the coast of Maine. I have heard loud noises that were impressive but this was even better than the lightning strike on the "Doc" Hangar at Boeing Wichita.
The news helo's are still circling outside 14 hours later and I am going to watch big bad Ted Kennedy say something really impressive at a press conference too!
Wed Nov 22, 2006 8:10 pm
Saw that on the news tonight but I didn't catch the town. Must have been something to wake up to! Glad you and Shannon were that 0.3mi far enough away!
Don
Don
Thu Nov 23, 2006 9:27 am
Very glad to hear you both are ok and it appears one one else was killed.
Tim
Tim
Thu Nov 23, 2006 12:11 pm
Glad to hear your ok.
So what happened?
So what happened?
Thu Nov 23, 2006 3:57 pm
There was a similar explosion at a refinery in San Pedro that I heard at my friends house in Irvine about 7 years ago, about 35 miles distant as the crow flies. We were standing outside and heard the boom and the pressure wave rattled the garage door. We ran inside to watch the news as we knew it was something big!
Thu Nov 23, 2006 7:01 pm
No word as to the cause of the explosion, apparently the fire alarm had already alerted the FD a few minutes prior. Luckily the explosion had happened before they arrived, I guess. The company made inks and dyes for plastic bags, used alot of Toluene. Oh how lovely that stuff is!
Its been the talk of the town, everywhere you go people were talking about the sound of a vehicle crashing into their house. People were outside checking their neighborhoods at 3AM. Shannons aunt , who lives two miles away from us had small things blown off of shelves from the blast. (I guess its a good thing we have Ms. Stompyfeet living above us, so all of our stuff is well anchored)
Shannons father had stopped into the Danversport Bakery weekday mornings for the past 10 years for a coffee. The guys were in there working on around 400 pies for thanksgiving orders. The second floor was blown apart. The 4 of them crawled out and Luis, the owner, needed a few stitches.
We havent been over there too see it in person, the road closures begin on the next street over from us. Just before stopping in to Shannons brothers place, which is .5 Mi. from here we stopped at a park across the river from Water St. and you can see the back of the fourth row of houses from the blast site, and the entire length of that street is boarded up.
http://cbs4boston.com/topstories/local_story_326095830.html
The funny things you learn by looking at google earth:
The pictures in our area have been updated recently, a few weeks ago I placemarked a bunch of local warbirds on mine. I just looked at one and it is gone, I checked the next and it is gone, and the one I went looking for originally is now there. The best part is I moved over to the view of our parking lot at the apartment and there is a bright turquoise car parked across the way. It wasnt there before, and it has been in the hangar at work since last November. So they update with a little delay.
Its been the talk of the town, everywhere you go people were talking about the sound of a vehicle crashing into their house. People were outside checking their neighborhoods at 3AM. Shannons aunt , who lives two miles away from us had small things blown off of shelves from the blast. (I guess its a good thing we have Ms. Stompyfeet living above us, so all of our stuff is well anchored)
Shannons father had stopped into the Danversport Bakery weekday mornings for the past 10 years for a coffee. The guys were in there working on around 400 pies for thanksgiving orders. The second floor was blown apart. The 4 of them crawled out and Luis, the owner, needed a few stitches.
We havent been over there too see it in person, the road closures begin on the next street over from us. Just before stopping in to Shannons brothers place, which is .5 Mi. from here we stopped at a park across the river from Water St. and you can see the back of the fourth row of houses from the blast site, and the entire length of that street is boarded up.
http://cbs4boston.com/topstories/local_story_326095830.html
The funny things you learn by looking at google earth:
The pictures in our area have been updated recently, a few weeks ago I placemarked a bunch of local warbirds on mine. I just looked at one and it is gone, I checked the next and it is gone, and the one I went looking for originally is now there. The best part is I moved over to the view of our parking lot at the apartment and there is a bright turquoise car parked across the way. It wasnt there before, and it has been in the hangar at work since last November. So they update with a little delay.
Sun Dec 03, 2006 10:22 pm
Heres a few pics from the area.
Tue Dec 05, 2006 6:46 pm
How far from the plant where those houses?
Wed Dec 06, 2006 10:08 pm
The first picture shows the back side of the house that abutted the plant, approximately 1000 ft away.
The second picture was the front of a house across the street from the first one.
The third picture shows the first house in the background, you cant see the corolla behind the debris. The blast originated from the right of that picture.
The Chemical company was located behind the Pizza Shop. If you could see farther to the left you would be looknig into the backyards like the third picture.
The houses with the purple dots are the ones in the pictures. The red dots are among the ones to be torn down. The yellow dots have damage and there are alot more outside of the picture.
In the lower LH corner there is a parking lot, just outside of that picture is a propane company. The house just south of the pizza shop had a propane tank in the backyard, they refilled gas grille tanks back there.
There is an LNG pipeline from up north that passes through the river south of the picture. (I dont think its working yet)
So many things it could have been, nobody expected it to be the building in the back that you really couldnt see.
The second picture was the front of a house across the street from the first one.
The third picture shows the first house in the background, you cant see the corolla behind the debris. The blast originated from the right of that picture.
The Chemical company was located behind the Pizza Shop. If you could see farther to the left you would be looknig into the backyards like the third picture.
The houses with the purple dots are the ones in the pictures. The red dots are among the ones to be torn down. The yellow dots have damage and there are alot more outside of the picture.
In the lower LH corner there is a parking lot, just outside of that picture is a propane company. The house just south of the pizza shop had a propane tank in the backyard, they refilled gas grille tanks back there.
There is an LNG pipeline from up north that passes through the river south of the picture. (I dont think its working yet)
So many things it could have been, nobody expected it to be the building in the back that you really couldnt see.
Thu Dec 07, 2006 5:20 pm
On this very night, ten years ago, along this very stretch of road in a dense fog just like this. I saw the worst accident I ever seen. There was this sound, like a garbage truck dropped off the Empire State Building...And when they pulled the driver's body from the twisted, burning wreck. It looked like this..." 
Thu Dec 07, 2006 5:31 pm
That is unbelievable.
Unfortunately, you are not alone. In Milwaukee yesterday...
http://www.jsonline.com/site/photograph ... otoid=3997
Unfortunately, you are not alone. In Milwaukee yesterday...
http://www.jsonline.com/site/photograph ... otoid=3997