Fire Critic An Unadulterated View of the Fire Service
Joseph Chestnut / AP
While checking out the World News tonight I noticed another fireworks explosion…this time in North Carolina. An earlier post detailed several large fireworks explosions caught on tape here. This time it was while the fireworks were being unloaded. The interesting thing is that while I was working tonight we had a standby at our local fireworks show. I noticed how the fireworks company had utilized 2 Ryder trucks to transport the fireworks from wherever the company keeps them. I do not know if they make their own or purchase from a larger company. I didn’t take the time to look, but I did wonder if the trucks had placards for the explosives they were transporting. I also realized how the shit would hit the fan if we were to have a call for a similar truck that caught fire. That would be a bad day!
Unfortunately, 2 men lost their lives in this explosion and three others injured. Two firefighters were treated for smoke inhalation and exhaustion, and the planned fireworks show was obviously cancelled to for the town of Ocracoke.
The explosion also posed other logistical issues. Ocracoke is surrounded by water and transport there is by ferry. The explosion was described as 40 minutes of fireworks that went off in 4 seconds.
As always when I report on “news” I check out Firegeezer and of course they beat me to it. Check out their coverage here.
There is also plenty of coverage over at the Pilotonline.com.
