shootingshooting

It's been quite a week in local news. On Tuesday morning there was an explosion at the ConAgra plant in Garner that resulted in the partial collapse of the south side of the building. News crews flooded the parking lot of the Hess station at the top of the Jones Sausage Road exit off of I-40. Approximately a mile from the plant, this was the closest authorities would allow anyone and served as the staging area.

Jessica and I were the first ones from News 14 to arrive. We were on air almost immediately, talking with a few employees, authorities, and even a family member of someone who was in the building at the time of the explosions. Patrick showed up after a while to help me out with the onslaught of impromptu press conferences under the awning of this gas station.

The area of the plant where the explosion took place held a refrigeration unit that contained 34,000 gallons of concentrated ammonia. We could smell it in the air, but were repeatedly assured that it was safe (nowhere close to the 300 parts per million that is considered "a concern"). After scrambling for information for a few hours in the nearly 90 degree heat, it began to rain. Hard. The rain was so heavy that the truck's satellite lost signal.

Three bodies have been recovered from the rubble. Several people remain in the hospital, some with critical injuries. This afternoon, ConAgra's CEO arrived from the company's headquarters in Omaha to (poorly, I might add) offer condolences to the employees and their family members. With everyone accounted for, in investigation to discover the cause of the explosion is underway. It was reported that a bomb threat was called in to the plant a few days prior, but authorities say there is not yet proof the two are related.

In compliance with OSHA regulations, I wore the orange safety vest that's kept in the truck whenever I was working near a road. This particular one didn't fit too well, but provided a brief moment of comic relief.