Posted: 5/24/2010 3:13:38 PM EDT
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Any one hear anything? ATK is across the road from the Allegany Ballistics Laboratory.
The wife heard something on the radio, didn't catch it all. Located in Mineral County, WV. They make missiles. |
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Cumberland Times
They're calling it an "incident". Cumberland Times-News ROCKET CENTER, W.Va. — Local public safety officials are scrambling to Alliant Tech Systems at Rocket Center, W.Va., after initial reports of what one ATK official described as an "incident" at the defense contractor facility in Mineral County. At least four ambulances have been called to the scene and Trooper 5, the Maryland State Police medevac helicopter, also is responding to the scene. One ATK employee said the incident occurred in Plant No. 2, where smoke could be seen from aerial and ground observers. Marketing Manager Gary Geiger, reached just before 5 p.m., confirmed an incident took place and said it is being investigated. He could not say if any one was injured, although a top ATK official indicated that all workers have been accounted for as of 5:36 p.m. Geiger said he had no further information and wouldn't until at least later Monday evening. "All I can say right now is, yes, we did have an incident," Geiger said. Residents from Short Gap, W.Va., to Cresaptown reported hearing "an explosion." The incident could involve hazardous materials. Reports from the area indicate ATK employees have been ordered to remain in place at their work stations and first responders' efforts have been delayed by ensuring the scene is same for them to put feet on the ground. Times-News staff writer Megan Miller, reporting from the scene, said four ambulances - one each from Ridgeley, Cresaptown, LaVale and Cumberland - are staged near the intersection of U.S. Route 220 and state Route 956. Law enforcement had expanded ATK's perimeter from the facility's front gates to near 956. West Virginia State Police closed off 956 while Maryland State Police shut down access to 956 at 220, Miller said. Route 956 was reopened shortly after 6 p.m. - about 75 minutes after the incident. At about the same time, the four ambulances situated near ATK were redirected back to their stations. "As it is being reported to us, no threats exist as a result of the ATK incident," according to an e-mail from Barrack C of the Maryland State Police in LaVale. Meanwhile, a few miles northwest of ATK's location across the Potomac River, Jason Fornwalt was stunned. "I was sitting at the table on the computer and I heard a very loud boom," Fortwalt said of the scene at his Cunngham Drive home. "It sound like thunder, but about 10 times louder than that. The whole house shook for about four or five seconds. At first, I thought a tractor-trailer has crashed into the house. It was that significant." There were no injuries in the Fornwalt home but he said he had concerns about his safety. "I had a fear of the roof coming down on my head," he said. "It's what I imagine what a pretty significant earthquake would feel like." The incident shook the otherwise quiet Cresaptown community. "I walked around the house here. We don't have any damage to the foundation," Fornwalt said. "Everybody was out on their porches dumbfounded, staring at each other in shock. I'm still pretty shaken. I have some pretty decent nerves, but this one got to me." Staff writer Megan Miller contributed to this report. |
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Hey fellas. Yes there was an explosion there today.
My Dad works there and told me all about it this evening. I live in Western Maryland, about 6 miles from ATK and I heard the boom. Sounded like thunder without the continuing rumble. Just a single loud boom. We went up on Dan's Rock and looked out across with binoculars and sure enough a big hole with smoke coming out. Nobody was seriously injured. My Father said that there were a few minor injuries from things falling in an adjacent building but nothing major. The building that blew was a mixing plant. They make mostly rocket motors there but a few warheads. This was according to my Dad a Hellfire somewhere in the 1,000-1,500 lbs. range. In mixing building or buildings that could "explode" they are built and earth is packed over them for instances such as this. The plant was on lock down for a while everything turned out as good as it could have. It could have been a lot worse. My prayers were certainly going out in the first minutes after. |
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Quoted:
Hey fellas. Yes there was an explosion there today. My Dad works there and told me all about it this evening. I live in Western Maryland, about 6 miles from ATK and I heard the boom. Sounded like thunder without the continuing rumble. Just a single loud boom. We went up on Dan's Rock and looked out across with binoculars and sure enough a big hole with smoke coming out. Nobody was seriously injured. My Father said that there were a few minor injuries from things falling in an adjacent building but nothing major. The building that blew was a mixing plant. They make mostly rocket motors there but a few warheads. This was according to my Dad a Hellfire somewhere in the 1,000-1,500 lbs. range. In mixing building or buildings that could "explode" they are built and earth is packed over them for instances such as this. The plant was on lock down for a while everything turned out as good as it could have. It could have been a lot worse. My prayers were certainly going out in the first minutes after. Hellfires are smaller than that, but they DEFINITELY pack a wallop when they go off! I've seen a small mosque dissapear with 1. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Hey fellas. Yes there was an explosion there today. My Dad works there and told me all about it this evening. I live in Western Maryland, about 6 miles from ATK and I heard the boom. Sounded like thunder without the continuing rumble. Just a single loud boom. We went up on Dan's Rock and looked out across with binoculars and sure enough a big hole with smoke coming out. Nobody was seriously injured. My Father said that there were a few minor injuries from things falling in an adjacent building but nothing major. The building that blew was a mixing plant. They make mostly rocket motors there but a few warheads. This was according to my Dad a Hellfire somewhere in the 1,000-1,500 lbs. range. In mixing building or buildings that could "explode" they are built and earth is packed over them for instances such as this. The plant was on lock down for a while everything turned out as good as it could have. It could have been a lot worse. My prayers were certainly going out in the first minutes after. Hellfires are smaller than that, but they DEFINITELY pack a wallop when they go off! I've seen a small mosque dissapear with 1. A single Hellfire would be smaller but this was a mixing building. So they would be mixing enough for several Hellfires when the mix is comlpete. Basically it was like several Hellfires exploding at the same time. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Hey fellas. Yes there was an explosion there today. My Dad works there and told me all about it this evening. I live in Western Maryland, about 6 miles from ATK and I heard the boom. Sounded like thunder without the continuing rumble. Just a single loud boom. We went up on Dan's Rock and looked out across with binoculars and sure enough a big hole with smoke coming out. Nobody was seriously injured. My Father said that there were a few minor injuries from things falling in an adjacent building but nothing major. The building that blew was a mixing plant. They make mostly rocket motors there but a few warheads. This was according to my Dad a Hellfire somewhere in the 1,000-1,500 lbs. range. In mixing building or buildings that could "explode" they are built and earth is packed over them for instances such as this. The plant was on lock down for a while everything turned out as good as it could have. It could have been a lot worse. My prayers were certainly going out in the first minutes after. Hellfires are smaller than that, but they DEFINITELY pack a wallop when they go off! I've seen a small mosque dissapear with 1. A single Hellfire would be smaller but this was a mixing building. So they would be mixing enough for several Hellfires when the mix is comlpete. Basically it was like several Hellfires exploding at the same time. ah, wow, yeah, thats a lot of pop. |
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Quoted:
Hey fellas. Yes there was an explosion there today. My Dad works there and told me all about it this evening. I live in Western Maryland, about 6 miles from ATK and I heard the boom. Sounded like thunder without the continuing rumble. Just a single loud boom. We went up on Dan's Rock and looked out across with binoculars and sure enough a big hole with smoke coming out. Nobody was seriously injured. My Father said that there were a few minor injuries from things falling in an adjacent building but nothing major. The building that blew was a mixing plant. They make mostly rocket motors there but a few warheads. This was according to my Dad a Hellfire somewhere in the 1,000-1,500 lbs. range. In mixing building or buildings that could "explode" they are built and earth is packed over them for instances such as this. The plant was on lock down for a while everything turned out as good as it could have. It could have been a lot worse. My prayers were certainly going out in the first minutes after. My Brother works there. I just got a voice message from him that said basically the same thing. Vulcan94 |