6 Die in Blast as Fire Ignites Explosives : Firefighters Killed Answering Call to Construction Site

A fire ignited two trailers loaded with explosives at a highway construction site early today, setting off massive blasts that killed six firefighters, reduced one fire truck to rubble and left no trace of another, Fire Department officials said.

Authorities were investigating the possibility of arson.

The explosions left two craters about 35 feet across and 7 feet deep, authorities said. Windows throughout the city’s south side were knocked out and the blasts could be felt as far away as Liberty, 25 miles north of the quarry, witnesses said.

A seventh firefighter, who was near the site in a department car, was injured and was taken to a hospital, said Fire Department spokesman Harold Knabe.

The firefighters had been sent to the scene after receiving a report of a burning vehicle.

Knabe said the force of the explosions turned one fire truck into twisted wreckage and left no trace of another one.

“The other fire truck--there is absolutely no evidence that it was even there,” he said.

Two security guards discovered the fire in a pickup truck as they were searching the construction site for an intruder who had been seen in the area. Firefighters were called to fight the blaze, which had spread to a trailer by the time they arrived, authorities said.

The firefighters apparently did not know the trailer contained ammonium nitrate, which was stored at the site for use in blasting rock at the quarry for highway construction, officials said.

The trailer, described as similar to a mobile home, exploded at 4:10 a.m., authorities said. A second trailer about 100 feet away exploded about 40 minutes later.

Roger Ware was working at his father’s gas station about 1 3/4 miles from the site when he was shaken by the first explosion.

“I saw a big flash and then everything seemed to move,” he said. “The cash register I was working jumped about 3 inches off the counter and it weighs 100 pounds. Then came the boom and everything went black because the power went out. It scared me to death.”

Six firefighters were on the scene when the first explosion occurred, Knabe said, and all were found dead when the area was searched at daybreak.

“At this point, we think the first explosion consisted of 30,000 pounds (of ammonium nitrate),” Knabe said.

The second explosion apparently was fueled by 15,000 pounds of the chemical, a colorless, crystalline salt used in explosives and as a fertilizer, Knabe said.

“We’re assuming that someone did set both fires because both of them did occur when both security people were away from the area,” he said. The guards were not hurt, he said.