Sevierville Police and Fire Departments responded to an explosion at Activated Metals, 904 Old Knoxville Hwy. Monday, August 19, 2002, at approximately 6:50 am. The plant mixes chemicals and metals.
Sevierville Police Corporal Stacy Cutshaw, who arrived just moments after the explosion, found two employees who had been injured from the explosion. Cpl. Cutshaw, along with Sevierville Fire Department personnel, provided first aid for the victims prior to arrival of paramedics. The two injured men suffered severe burns.
The Sevier County Ambulance Service took the two employees, Dennis Cushman and David Spurlking, to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville because Lifestar helicopters were not available. One of the men was later transported to a burn hospital in Chattanooga.
According to Sevierville Fire Department Fire Marshall Tommy White, initial indications were that an explosion occurred within a metal grinder, located within a large metal building. The grinder contained several different types of metals and was in operation at the time of the explosion. Firefighters extinguished the resulting fire with a small amount of foam, because using water would likely have caused the fire to grow. Several nearby buildings were not threatened by the explosion or resulting fire.
Initial reports at the scene were that two explosions might have occurred, with one involving a propane tank. However, only one explosion appears to have occurred. There was also a small fire caused by a ruptured line on a forklift propane tank, but the tank did not explode.
The accident is under investigation by the Sevierville Fire Department.

… read the rest of the story by Subscribing now.

... read the rest of the story by Subscribing now.