West Virginia store explosion investigated

[Rogue Angel]

GHENT, W.Va. (AP) ? Five people injured in a gas explosion that leveled convenience store remained in critical condition Wednesday, said state Fire Marshal Sterling Lewis.

Lewis had earlier said a fifth person died but he retracted that statement Wednesday afternoon.

A volunteer firefighter, a building inspector and two other people were killed in Tuesday's explosion, which occurred at Flat Top Little General Store in Ghent, a rural community about 70 miles southeast of Charleston.

Lewis said the atmosphere is safe and authorities don't believe there are any more victims.

Other victims were identified as Frederick Allen Burroughs, 51, Ghent; Craig Lawrence Dorsey, 24, McArthur; Glenn Ray Bennett, 44; and Jeffrey Lee Treadway, 21, both from Beckley.

Burgess and Dorsey were members of the Ghent Volunteer Fire Department, Treadway and Bennett were working on the propane tank.

The injured were identified as volunteer firefighter Donnie Caldwell, 71, of Cool Ridge; store manager Donna Meadows, 45, of Cool Ridge; Godfather's Pizza employees Joyce Walker, 63, of Odd and Leta Farley, 41, of Flat Top; and Little General employee Patricia Mullens, 37, of Flat Top.

The propane was used to heat the ovens at a Godfather's Pizza, which operated a franchise in the store. Lewis said he was not sure if the gas was used to heat the store.

A couple of days before the incident, the tank underwent maintenance, Lewis said.

The cause of the blast remains under investigation.

Nothing has been ruled out yet, said Kim O'Brien, spokeswoman for the state Fire Marshal's office.

Experts say it takes a minuscule amount of energy to touch off propane if the amount of gas present in the air is within its explosive range. Ken Cashdollar with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health's disaster prevention branch in Pittsburgh compared it to the amount of static electricity a person would develop walking across a carpet.

Such charges build up more in dry, winter months.

"If it was in the middle of the summertime, at high humidity, you wouldn't be building up a static charge," Cashdollar said. "In the wintertime, you tend to get little sparks."

[ellanoize]

That is a shame, I heard about that on TV.
I also saw a news show that talked about the amount of static electricity that can build up just from getting out of a car. They then showed video from around the country of fires that were <u>probably started by static electricity.</u> It was a scary image.

[Rogue Angel]

lol... the tanks had recently undergone maintenance... funny. Notice how they leave out the fact that the employees that worked at this store complained to the heating company, who owns the propane tanks for THREE WEEKS about smelling natural gas. They tried to get them to come and check it out for three weeks. Hell, by THAT time, gas had filled the whole store, and the entire surrounding area. They had HUGE tanks there... it was the main stop that the heating guys came to when they needed tanks filled. Two of the guys killed were the heating company guys, who were trying to fix the leak. They were in the process of evacuating the store when it happened. If they had done their damn jobs three weeks earlier... maybe there wouldn't be people dead and wounded.

Ya know.... it makes you stop and think about how lucky you are. The people that lived... from what i heard about them. I'm not entirely sure i would WANT to live. They found the cashier with the bone snapped out of her leg bent in the complete opposite direction. One lady has burns over 88% of her body, and the end of her nose was turned to ash. And those are the people who are in relatively GOOD condition. It fucking scares me to death... it was a frequent stop for me. What if i hadn't had to work that day? *shivers*.....

My best friend's husband works for a bottling company that bottles a lot of expensive wines... he went to his next scheduled stop after this happened, and found a girl sitting on his display, hysterically crying, saying that her fiancee had been there minutes before the explosion... and she didn't know if he was dead or alive... he said about 6 people came along and picked her up, and carried her out. He was the 21 year old that worked for the heating company... She related to the friend's hubby that they were required to use the propane tanks, but were not CERTIFIED to do it. or anything to them, for that matter. He was talking to her about how much he hated to mess with them, because he wasn't certified... then he told her he loved her, and he'd see her at home after work. About 2 minutes later, he was gone. [img]frown.gif[/img]

its amazing the way the community has pulled together, and even the surrounding areas... We tried to go to the volunteer firehouse, which is where people whose homes were destroyed are staying... people that have no power, etc. It knocked it out for miles around, and knocked a couple of houses right off the foundations from what i understand.... we wanted to cook, take food, or something... but they have food to last everyone there through the entire weekend already... I did not walk into a single business yesterday nor today that did not have a jar of some sort, to collect money to help the victims and the victims families.... Strange sometimes, the way it takes something like this to pull people closer together...

i drove past last night on my way home... i didn't think it would effect me so... but it did. There is a stillness in the air around where the building used to stand. You could feel as you drove by... eerie... silence... EMPTINESS would be a better description i suppose. Just... void. of anything. Particularly life. i can't imagine... kissing someone goodbye in the morning... not knowing that it will be the last time you ever see them again.... *shudders*...

[mr rogie]

[img]graemlins/rose.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/rose.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/rose.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/rose.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/rose.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/rose.gif[/img]

[Rogue Angel]

this article is such bullshit... this Greg Darby guy that owns the "Little General" chain of stores is a giant fucking ass liar. *glares*... i would not say so if i didn't know someone who worked at THAT very store... the said they had been smelling gas for 3 weeks... and couldn't get anyone to do anything about it... If they didn't know anything was wrong, why the heck were the in the midst of EVACUATING the store when it exploded? he HAD to know... The heating company DAMN sure knew... i mean, who were these employees complaining TO? Someone had foreknowledge of this SOMEWHERE down the line.... makes me sick... i guess technically, MOST of the people that know they were complaining about it... aren't around to dispute the story. Bastards. They just don't wanna get sued when they should damn well lose the shirts off their backs... ..... ahem. Anyway, here is the article.

?Everything still speculative,? gas company official says

By Fred Pace
REGISTER-HERALD BUSINESS EDITOR

An official with the supplier of propane to the Ghent store leveled Tuesday by a deadly explosion said Thursday ?everything is still speculative? regarding what actually caused the blast that killed four people and seriously injured five others.

?We are totally cooperating and working with authorities to find out what exactly happened, but at this point everything is still speculative,? said Gary Nouse, a spokesman for Thompson Gas and Electric Inc.

Nouse was in Ghent Thursday. He spoke to The Register-Herald prior to state officials announcing they were ending their investigation.

?We are so devastated by this incident,? he said. ?There are still lots of tears flowing at this point.?

Initial reports from the investigation indicated a leaky propane tank caused the explosion at the Little General Store. The propane tank may have had problems a couple of days earlier, the state fire marshal said Wednesday.

Nouse, however, would not confirm or deny if Jeffrey Lee Treadway and Glenn Ray Bennett, who were killed in the explosion, were contract employees of Thompson Gas working on the tank.

?We plan to release an official statement, possibly as soon as (today),? he said.

State Fire Marshal Sterling Lewis told reporters Wednesday that ?evidently there was a problem a couple days prior to the incident because there were maintenance people working on the scene.?

Greg Darby, president of Little General, said he had no knowledge of any maintenance problem and that it was his understanding the store was switching its propane tank to another tank from a new supplier, which was Thompson Gas.

The Little General had two 500-gallon propane tanks. They were only used for operating the pizza oven at Godfather?s, located inside the store, Little General said.

Little General confirmed Wednesday night that Thompson owned the tank and its representatives were working on it Tuesday. Also, about four other Little General stores with Godfather?s Pizza outlets were switching to Thompson-owned tanks, according to Darby. He said the propane tanks at the other Little General stores would be inspected.

Thompson Gas and Electric has headquarters in Maryland and has been in business 59 years.


pfffft. Here's another... The head guy says that his partner was in the store that blew up and "noticed no smell of propane in the store"... well, DUH, if the fucking place blew up like an hour or two after he was there, it HAD to smell like propane SOMEWHERE... and why didn't HE smell anything, when the employees had been smelling it for 3 weeks at that point? grrrrr... it makes me VERY angry that these guys are more than likely gonna get away with being negligent and causing deaths and injuries to their employees...

Little General assisting employee victims, families

By Fred Pace
Register-Herald business editor

Little General Inc. President Greg Darby says his company is doing everything it can to help victims of Tuesday?s explosion at its Ghent store that killed four people and seriously injured five others.

?We want to try and help all of the victims of this unfortunate tragedy as much as we can,? Darby said in an interview with The Register-Herald Friday. ?Some of the victims were our employees and we care very deeply. Our thoughts and prayers are with all the victims and their families.?

Darby said he was going to Cabell-Huntington Hospital Friday to visit with employee victims and their families.

?I wanted to go sooner, but the investigators and authorities would not allow me to leave the area until the investigation was complete,? he explained.

The state fire marshal released the scene Thursday evening.

Darby said Little General has set up a trust fund for victims and their families and started it with a $25,000 donation.

?Now, anybody that wants to donate to this fund can go to any City National branch in West Virginia to do it,? Darby said. ?We have always supported the communities in which our stores are located, and the communities have always supported us. Now it?s time for all of us to help these victims and their families.?

Donations can also be mailed to: Little General Store Emergency Aid Fund, City National Bank, One Park Ave., Beckley, WV 25801, Darby said.

Jan Vineyard, executive director of the West Virginia Oil Marketers & Grocers Association, said her organization is also contributing to the fund.

?We are planning on a $1,000 donation to the fund and encourage others in the business community to do the same,? she said.

Darby said many of Little General?s suppliers and vendors have indicated they will also donate to the fund.

?We have been getting calls every single day from people and businesses wanting to help,? he said.

He also announced Ramey Automotive Group has donated a car to be raffled to raise additional money for the fund and will be working on the fundraising event with City National Bank.

?The details are still being worked out, as I understand, and additional information should be coming on Monday,? he said.

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Darby said the past few days have been the worst he can remember.

?We have had stores totally destroyed by flooding and other incidents, but nothing like this,? he said. ?We are a locally owned and operated business and this tragedy has really affected us. The past few days have been the longest in my life.?

Darby said his partner, Corey Beasley, was at the Ghent store at 10 a.m. the day of the explosion.

?He said he noticed no smell of propane,? he said.

Darby said Little General was not aware of any leaks or previous problems with the propane tanks used by the Godfather?s Pizza operation?s ovens. The Little General had two 500-gallon propane tanks.

?Rumors that we have known about problems with those tanks for years are totally false,? he said. ?We would have taken that type of issue very seriously.?

Darby said the store was switching its propane tank to another tank from a new supplier, which was Appalachian Heating, an affiliate of Thompson Gas of Maryland.

?We made the switch to Appalachian Heating because they were a local company that we had dealt with before,? he said. ?We were never aware of any problems and we don?t feel we did anything wrong to create this accident. We just want to do what we can now to help the victims of this tragedy and their families.?

Darby said Sun Propane has also set up a fund to assist victims and their families at United Bank. Contact the bank for details regarding this fund.

Other donation locations and funds include:

- Monetary and nonperishable food items can be donated at the American Red Cross, 200 Industrial Drive, Beckley. Monetary donations can also be made using the Internet by visiting www.cwv-redcross.org.

- Monetary and nonperishable food items can be donated at the Ghent Fire Department. All money and food items will be given to the Red Cross for distribution to victims and their families. Donations can be mailed to: Ghent Volunteer Fire Department, Attention: David Shrewsbury, Box 99, Ghent, WV 25843.

- The Raleigh County Code Enforcement Department has set up the Lindsay Burroughs Scholarship Fund with First Community Bank. Lindsay is the daughter of Fred Burroughs, who died in the explosion. She is a seventh-grade student at Victory Baptist Academy and the Burroughs family attends Sunday services at Victory Baptist Church. Donations can be mailed to: The Lindsay Burroughs Scholarship Fund, c/o First Community Bank, 50 Brookshire Lane, Beckley, WV 25801. Donations for this fund are also being collected and can be dropped off at Victory Baptist Academy and the Ghent Volunteer Fire Department.