Explosion at Navy Facility in NJ - Accidental

[The Stig]

Original story HERE at abclocal

New Jersey Navy station explosion leaves 8 hurt
Wednesday, August 21, 2013

By Bill King, Eyewitness News

MIDDLETOWN (WABC) -- At least eight sailors were injured after an explosion and fire at the Naval Weapons Station Earle in Middletown, New Jersey, Tuesday morning.

Naval officials confirm that some kind of explosion happened during maintenance work on a 35-foot utility vessel in one of the buildings along the waterfront around 9 a.m.

It appears some kind of welding accident took place inside one of the buildings on the site. The blast blew a hole through the roof of the building.

Officials say one person was seriously hurt, while seven others suffered non-life threatening injuries, primarily smoke inhalation. The damage from the explosion was contained within the boathouse area, and the situation is stabilized.

Ammunition and ordnance operations at the weapons station were not affected by the accident.

"It was nowhere near any of the ordinance operations or any ammunition that was moving," base Commander John Dunne said. "There was none of that, so this was a self-contained event...I don't know the extent of what they were doing, but I would say that anytime you can walk away, you're doing well when you have a mishap like this."

The identities of the injured personnel are being withheld until family members have been notified.

According to its website, the Naval station mainside is located in Colts Neck, and the Waterfront is in the Leonardo section of Middletown. The two areas are connected by a private, federally-owned roadway. Colts Neck sits in the heart of New Jersey's horse farming region and is only 20 minutes away from the famed Jersey Shore. Leonardo is located on Sandy Hook Bay overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and the New York skyline.

The cause of the explosion is under investigation.

Looks like a simple industrial accident but it raises some questions....

1) How many military bases are located near you?

2) What sort of activities take place on these bases? Can those activities result in some accident that could, in turn, effect you?

3) What if this wasn't an "accident"...what implications could that raise for you in terms of prepping?

[Brownwater Riverrat 13]

I look at it this way, Earle is a weapons station and it's a good thing that is was a "minor" explosion probably due to ignorance. What's usually done there is an off load where weapons are stored while a ship goes into dry dock, or maintenance. Then the ship comes out of the yards and they come back to Earle and they reload and are on there way. That's been my history with it anyway. Also I'm sure there is a vast stock pile of assorted munitions there as well. Think of the possibilities....................best of all in this story, minor injuries.

[Stg1swret]

Earle was my last duty station. I retired there. The ammo pier is a mile long and separated from the ammo bunkers by 15 miles. When they are handling ammo, no other activities are permitted. This accident happened in the small boat shop which is not on the pier. A weapons accident at Earle whether on the pier or at the ammo storage areas would only affect those areas, and no other area on the base or the surrounding communities.

[Brownwater Riverrat 13]

And we didn't get liberty in Earle

[Stg1swret]

No, never did. Yorktown was the same way.