Oct. 15, 2004
News 14 Carolina
By: Brandi Davis & Web Staff
A gas explosion near Hope Mills in Cumberland County may have started while two men made repairs to a gas truck. It happened Thursday night at the Jenkins Propane Gas Company on Legion Road.
The explosion caused homes and businesses to be evacuated Thursday night.
Witnesses said they heard an explosion and their homes shook. Some said they saw the sky light up over the Jenkins Propane Company.
"I heard a couple booms and I thought it was the artillery on base,î said witness Kent Larson.
Fire investigators say the building and a few propane tanks out back caught fire around 6:50 p.m. Twenty-two fire units respond to the scene.
Emergency crews airlifted three people to the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center in Chapel Hill. Gary Garner, Steve Jackson, and Jay Sharp remain in critical condition.
Those who saw the fire say they've never seen anything like that before. "There was about a 25 to 30 foot flame coming out of the roof,î Larson added.
The fire shut down several streets from Ireland Drive to Elk Road in that part of Hope Mills.
While the smell of propane filled the air, families were evacuated to South View High School while the fire was put out. The Sheriff's Office said at least 200 people were evacuated.
"We let the fire burn out and evacuated the area so that no one would be in danger,î said Fire Chief Ronnie Marley of Pearceís Mill Fire Department. ìWe put water on the tanks to make it cool."
Those families are now back at home. Investigators say they appear to be out of harmís way.
Over the next few days they will try to determine how something like this happened.
The conditions of the three people injured in the fire are still not known.
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