[brkg] Explosion Kinston, NC factory 1/29 14:37EST

[Pete/ME]

Saw on FoxNews. No report yet... covering press conf.

[lunabellatoo]

Explosion at Kinston's North Carolina Global TransPark
Updated: 1/29/2003 2:30 PM
By: News 14 Carolina Staff

The Lenoir County Sheriff department says there has been an explosion at West Pharmaceuticals at the North Carolina Global TransPark Jetport just outside of Kinston.

West Pharmaceuticals is located at 2525 Rouse Road Ext. The cause of the explosion has not been determined.

They say the incident happened around 1:15 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. The TransPark is located at the Regional Jetport in Kinston. It was designed to be a manufacturing and transportation center allowing local companies to deliver products around the world.

One witness says smoke can be seen for several miles out.

The Global TransPark is located at 2780 Jetport Road in Kinston.



lunabellatoo

[Lee P. Lapin]

WRAL TV (Raleigh, NC) and CNN are showing video- multiple fatalities reported, possible an airplane involved according to earlier reports, FAA denies aircraft involvement.

Explosion reportedly blew doors open 1 1/2 miles away.

[HeliumAvid]

Please post info as available for those with out cable!

[mt4design]

what the hell happened there?

it's on Fox News right now and it's huge.

question: did they make small pox vaccine there?

Mike

[daisy]

on CNN black thick smoke, multiple fatalities, about 1:40 pm ET guy speaking (City Manager of Kingston)found out about it...rumors of plane or planes crashing into it NOT CONFIRMED> this looks bad folks...close to Kingston Airport...FAA says not airplane involved..but??

guy saying it blew doors open to a mile and 1/2 away...there is also now a brush fire adjacent to building/plant...lots of fire..and thick black smoke...triage being set up now...more to come...

[Pete/ME]

Multiple Fatalities. "Explosion blew doors off [open?] a mile and a half away." per witness on CNN. No confirmation of plane crash. Appears to be internal explosion. Facility is adjacent to airport.

[truthseeker]

This looks bad. There are saying there are multiple fatalities. Damage overa large area. This looking to be major. Some locals had evacuated, but not near populated area's

[mt4design]

"flaming debris flew hundreds of feet away. woods near by currently on fire"

FNC

Mike

[lunabellatoo]

wtvd 11 reporting that blast could be felt up to five miles away. Also that Duke and ChapleHill hospital have been put on alert. Life flight has been sent to scene.

lunabellatoo

[Lee P. Lapin]

Reprts indicate people trapped in the building, approximately 200 people employed at West Pharmaceuticals, not known whether that is one shift or total.

A large number of ambulances responding, video shows approximately two dozen. Triage now going on in the parking lot.

The plant manufactures packaging for pharmaceuticals, syringes etc, it seems to be a plastics plant.

[jgebo]

i work from home so i took a peek on TV - huge fire
plant was right next door to an airport.

Fire is raging and black thick smoke everywhere

[daisy]

school nearby evacuated....people who live nearby say the blast shook their homes and knocked some off their feet....said the blast was major....people still saying a plane hit the building...if this was a small plane the FAA would/could not be aware of it....still more coming...this is awful...poor people...hopefully this isn't the beginning of something...heads UP people...

[rodeorector]

I imagine the machines got overheated trying to fill that new order for HIV drugs.

[truthseeker]

From the look of whats left of that building I fear the death toll will very very high. This is very sad. every one they seem to be talking to is from the airport, not been able to talk to people in the building yet.

rodector, probaly 50 people died 20 minutes ago, can you let they humor slide, while the dead and injured are pulled out. PLEASE.

[SnowMom]

Pharmaceutical mfg.=chemicals. Chemicals *can*= KaBoom. Could be as simple as someone mixing the wrong compounds. Sad.

[rodeorector]

You're right. I'm sorry. I better find a TV.

[Beantighe]

Explosion, fire at pharmaceutical plant in Kinston, N.C.; at least three critically injured

Wednesday, January 29, 2003

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...431EST0679.DTL

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



(01-29) 11:48 PST KINSTON, N.C. (AP) --

An explosion and fire rocked a pharmaceutical company Wednesday afternoon, and at least three people were critically injured, authorities said.

A man who lives near the West Pharmaceutical plant said debris flew in the air and the woods behind the plant were also on fire.

The explosion was reported at 1:27 p.m., said Lee Pearson of the Highway Patrol office in Williamston. The cause was not immediately known.

"We've got a lot of units out there," he said.

A spokeswoman at Lenoir Memorial Hospital said three people were at the hospital in critical condition with burns and more victims were expected. The University of North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center in Chapel Hill was also told to expect patients, but given no specifics.

Lee Edwards, who lives beside the plant, said debris from two 800-feet water towers flew in the air.

"All I can see I just the black smoke, just billowing up in the air. I mean, the whole sky is black," he said. "It exploded. It knocked me over."

"That whole building is gone. There's no saving any part of that building," he said.

Television aerial footage of showed flames and smoke still shooting up more than an hour after the fire broke out.

West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. is a manufacturer of pharmaceutical delivery and medical devices. The company's Web site said its Kinston plant employs about 225 people producing syringe plungers and IV supplies.

A spokeswoman at the company's headquarters in Lionville, Pa., had no immediate comment.

Kinston is a city of about 25,000 in east-central North Carolina.

[daisy]

no drugs there per news...say it only manufacturers syringes, IV type items, etc... mostly plastics... West Pharm.. based in PA... the flames still not under control...2 water towers there shook and parts of the fell to the ground...appx blew up 1:30 pm ET the whole place looks totally demolished...still saying multiple fatalities...CNN has the best coverage so far...Fox News seems to be a little behind at the moment which is suprising.

[Lee P. Lapin]

This had to be a HUGE explosion given the amount of damage to the plant and effects on other buildings over a considerable distance. It has been followed by an intense fire- this is a 'red steel' framed industrial building with metal siding and roof, an area hundreds of feet wide has been stripped of its roof/siding and the visible flames are intense. Fire department equipment is on scene, two deluge guns are at work but no other firefighting efforts can be seen from current video on CNN. The fire is supported by plastic or rubber materials used in the plant. The smoke is very black and heavy, as indicates this sort of fuel source.

Really bad situation, I feel for all involved. It is a big big callout, worse than anything I was ever involved in in 6 years of running ambulances as an EMT and 3 years as a fireman.

lpl

Edited to add:
WRAL coverage: http://www.wral.com/news/1943453/detail.html

[Pete/ME]

For those that can't get to a TV, MSNBC will be starting a live feed soon on their website. Go to: http://www.msnbc.com/m/lv/default.asp?0cv=c644
or if that doesn't work, try the homepage and just below the lead picture click on LIVE. ( www.msnbc.com )

[mt4design]

agree that the prospects of this being an accident are extremely high.

if you could see this thing it is amazing. the entire roof is literally blown off a large portion of the one story structure.

I mean a LARGE portion of the structure.

leads me to believe that there were multiple explosions in differrent parts of the structure...maybe natural gas?

Mike

[truthseeker]

They ambulances and emergency workers dont appear to be moving many people. so either alot are not that injured or there where not able to get out. judging from that building it doesnt look good.

[Lee P. Lapin]

Pic:

[Noatimah]

Could it have been sabotage? Just heard on news that the military seems to have a few copters flying around the place.

[Lee P. Lapin]

Noat,

According to reports the .mil copters are medevacs there to remove the injured...

lpl

[daisy]

yeah truthseeker...especially that one larger building part, I don't see how anyone could have escaped that alive. And there's one building/part that's still on fire. I fear that many, many will be dead.

Yeah noat there are reports of military copters there. There are still witnesses saying there was a plane involved...

[mt4design]

wow...just heard this thing is more than one story tall.

scale is everything.

this is WAY bigger than I first thought!!!

it is a HUGE, HUGE amount of damage!!!

Mike

[jgebo]

[night driver]

lee's link has a live feed available it WAS a RAW feed but is now a transmission feed.

And trhey are correct, the responders are working in professional mode.......slowly, and by the numbers

Chopers are Duke and UNC Lifeflight birds.

C

[night driver]

2 other choppers present are Forestry and State Highway Patrol



AWK debris lines....

dang...

[skinnycat6]

no deaths confirmed yet, at least 3 critical, they didnt make drugs there, just plastic stuff, IV plugs, etc. Happened during shift change, so old shift AND new were inside.

[Reader]

Fox News was interviewing a newspaper reporter. The reporter said he had been told machine parts had been thrown out somewhat of a distance. I think he said the parts had been thrown into windows thereby breaking them. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

I'm wondering if those machine parts could be plane parts, if a plane did crash into the building.

[Kip Brisbois]

Some links,
On the Net:

West Pharmaceuticals: http://www.westpharma.com/

City of Kinston: http://www.ci.kinston.nc.us/

Kip

[HeliumAvid]

http://www.wral.com/news/1943453/detail.html

<b>Massive Explosion, Fire At Kinston Pharmaceutical Plant</b>


POSTED: 2:07 p.m. EST January 29, 2003
UPDATED: 3:24 p.m. EST January 29, 2003

KINSTON, N.C. -- A fire continues to burn nearly two hours after a massive explosion at a pharmaceutical plant near Kinston's Global TransPark.




The explosion happened at 1:30 p.m. at West Pharmaceutical.


A spokeswoman at Lenoir Memorial Hospital said at least three people in critical condition with burns were at the hospital and more victims were expected.


RELATED INFORMATION
Watch live coverage on WRAL.com
View Images From The Scene
West Pharmaceutical
Global TransPark



Helicopters from Duke and UNC Hospitals have been dispatched to the scene and crews at those hospitals are awaiting victims. A spokesperson at UNC said the hospital is preparing anywhere from three to 30 victims.

Dozens of ambulances and other emergency vehicles are lined up along Rouse Road, near the blast site.

The force of the explosion reportedly rocked nearby homes and buildings, including Parrott Academy. The private school, located less than a mile away, is being evacuated after windows were reported blown out from the force of the blast. There are no reports of injuries at the school.

Lee Edwards, who lives beside the plant, said debris from two 800-feet-tall water towers flew in the air and the woods behind the company were on fire.

"All I can see is just the black smoke, just billowing up in the air. I mean, the whole sky is black," he said. "It exploded. It knocked me over."

West Pharmaceutical employees 255 people at the plant; however, there is no word how many people were working at the time of the blast.

The company produces syringe plungers and IV fitments.

Early reports suggested a plane crashed into the building. Christopher White, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration in Atlanta, said no aircraft were involved in the explosion, which occurred near the Global Transpark airport. The airport remained open.

[rodeorector]

Nothing on MSNBC yet. Still "coming up". I'm in Denver today and there is nothing on the stations here either.

[LibertyWeeps]

A dear friend of mine works in the same kind of plant as the one in NC. New material's are used such as the new metal's that are used in robotics. Lot's of new tech machinery and precision equipment.

I shutter to think what is going into the air.

[rodeorector]

Just came on MSNBC website.

[Senses On]

Fox News says 12 in hospital.

Unbelievable billowing black smoke. Reported to be seen 40 miles away.

[IMPAT]

I just talked to my brother who lives about 30 miles from the explosion in Kinston NC. He knows that area very well, said he thought it was eather a plane crash or..... I hate to even think about the OR.....