Initial reports indicated all were evacuated from SW Bend Nosler bullets facility.
(Evan Gonzalez, KTVZ)
Posted on 06/02/2010 9:10:25 PM PDT by archy
Explosion, Fire Rock Bend's Nosler Bullets Plant
Fire Officials Praise Evacuation; Damage 'Extensive'
By Adam Aaro, KTVZ.COM
POSTED: 2:33 pm PDT June 2, 2010
BEND, Ore. -- An explosion and fire rocked a portion of the Nosler Inc. bullet manufacturing plant in southwest Bend Wednesday afternoon, prompting an evacuation and the closure of streets in the area. Ddespite a blast felt for several blocks, all 100 workers were accounted for.
The initial report was only about smoke shortly after 2 p.m. at the facility at 107 SW Columbia St., leading to a full evacuation. By 2:15 p.m., there were reports that an explosion had destroyed part of the building. But by 3 p.m., reports from the scene were that all workers on scene at the time of the blast had been accounted for.
A company spokesman said he was told that around 2 p.m., work was under way in the ballistics tunnel, a testing area for ammunition, when there was a flash, followed by the quick evacuation, smoke, and moments later by a massive explosion.
Fire crews arrived at the 80,000-square-foot, 22-year-old facility to find extensive damage to the southeast corner of the building and brownish-yellow smoke pouring from the damaged area, said Fire Inspector Jeff Bond.
A Bend fire special rescue operations team combed the wreckage to be sure all workers were accounted for, while city building officials helped evaluate the damage and hazards for crews performing mop-up and overhaul operations.
Bond said an extensive investigation will be conducted by Bend Fire, law enforcement agencies and -- because of the bullets manufactured there -- the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Bond also said the quick evacuation by workers was "instrumental in a safe and effective exit from the structure."
"The company instituted and practiced building evacuations over the years, and this policy paid off today," Bond said in a news release.
A damage figure still was being compiled for a facility valued at $2.8 million for the structure and $10 million worth of contents, but Bond said it clearly was "pretty extensive."
Columbia Street remained shut into the evening hours. Firefighters asked the public to avoid the area for their safety and that of emergency workers.
Bend Fire did a personnel callback to ensure adequate staffing and called in Redmond and Sunriver firefighters for mutual aid coverage of the North and South stations.
Witnesses said there was a flash in the ballistics-testing tunnel area of the facility, and everybody apparently got out before the blast hit.
The explosion buried at least one evacuated worker's car in debris.
One nearby resident described the blast as like "feeling a bomb inside your house." After her house shook violently, she looked out to see a huge plume of orange smoke.
Barb Gonzalez at first thought it was an earthquake, when her house was jolted by the blast. "This one felt like a 5.5 (magnitude) jolt", said the survivor of the 1994 Northridge quake in California. Her second thought was an explosion.
Bella Blackney said: "All of a sudden the house shakes, and the glass is rumbling in all the windows, visibly - all the glass shook. Really intense. For a second I thought a bomb went off."
People several blocks away said the explosion rattled their office windows.PrintEmail
Copyright 2010 KTVZ. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Initial reports indicated all were evacuated from SW Bend Nosler bullets facility.
(Evan Gonzalez, KTVZ)
Gee, first that black powder gun manufacturing plant goes up in a boom a week or two ago and now this. Hmmmm....
Isn’t this the 2nd ammunition place to blow in the last month or so. Hmmmm.... What is going on I wonder?
"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."
-- Bond Villian Auric Goldfinger, in the novel and 1964 film Goldfinger.
Obama, Holder, and Rahm Emanuel probably set this up as a distraction to the oil spill and Rod Blagojevich scandal.
There's a war going on, with a related shortage on the civilian market, with manufacturers going hard at it on overtime and round-the-clock production schedules trying to catch up on their backorders and meet that demand.
Some have added new and inexperienced employees, and two such accidents do not necessarily indicate multiple points of coincidence.
But as Mr. Goldfinger, quoted above, observed: a third one would. And in both incidents, employees observed a flash in testing areas just prior to the resulting explosion. Maybe it's a seasonal static discharge, though appearing in widely seperate parts of the country.
Or maybe it's something else.
Oh crap. Just 2 hours drive from me.
Just bought 750 155gr custom competition bullets on sale from them. They make great bullets, hopefully they’re back to 100% soon.
Too bad. I love Nosler bullets.
Hope not. But note also this news story from 05 May:
Funeral Arrangements Set for Men Killed In Redstone Arsenal Explosion
Guns should be considered no less than a child IMO. Don’t get another one till ya can feed the ones ya already have !!
....... ANYONE who owns firearms and does not have the capability to cast or swage their own bullets and reload their own ammunition is kidding themselves as it is no longer a given that commercial ammunition will always be there much less the tools and materials to roll yer own per se........
http://www.dillonprecision.com/#/home.html
http://www.redding-reloading.com/
http://www.lymanproducts.com/lyman/home/
http://www.moyerscastbullets.com/
http://www.speer-ammo.com/products/golddot.aspx
http://www.cci-ammunition.com/products/primers/default.aspx
I was wathching a military doc about USsnipermen and the ammo they use.
Is that the same?
Explosive Oregon Ping.
Dang.
Hornady is my brand, but there is nothing wrong with Nosler’s. Glad everyone was ok.
I'm glad everyone is ok...
This probably won’t raise the price of ammo too much as Nosler bullets aren’t reloaded ammo and are kind of expensive. There are also a heck of a lot of other non-reloaded bullet manufacturers out there so reloaders still have a lot of options available. They are good quality bullets, though.
Fixed it.
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