Expert
Posts: 3887
Location: Northen Virginia | From the Facebook page...
In the early morning hours of August 7, 1959, a parked truck—loaded with two tons of dynamite and over four tons of ammonium nitrate—caught fire outside a supply store on the edge of downtown Roseburg. The resulting explosion, known locally as The Blast, sent a ball of flame and a mushroom cloud of smoke over two thousand feet into the air. A Roseburg policeman described the explosion as looking like "an A-bomb"; a pilot flying over the vicinity at the time actually thought there was a Soviet attack. The Roseburg explosion attracted national attention and resulted in stricter explosives-transport safety regulations and enforcement by the Interstate Commerce Commission.
The Blast killed 14 people and injured over 120 others. Some people were blown through windows and one guest at the Umpqua Hotel was hurled through his room's closed door and into the corridor. A number of buildings were leveled, and many others within the thirty-block disaster area had to be demolished because of structural damage. The Blast broke windows up to seven miles away and was reportedly heard as far away as Eugene.
Edited by hemidenis 2018-05-11 11:10 PM
(32235327_10215001586689714_8759633203746045952_n.jpg)
(area_near_the_crater_ba015182_chUdUhO.jpg)
(roseburg_explosion_ba015171.jpg)
(o1102c-blast-crater-1200.jpg)
Attachments ---------------- 32235327_10215001586689714_8759633203746045952_n.jpg (48KB - 151 downloads) area_near_the_crater_ba015182_chUdUhO.jpg (46KB - 165 downloads) roseburg_explosion_ba015171.jpg (40KB - 154 downloads) o1102c-blast-crater-1200.jpg (156KB - 160 downloads)
|