Six workers hospitalized with burns following explosion during school construction

NEWPORT NEWS -- Six North Carolina contract workers remain hospitalized with severe burns suffered when the room they were roofing at Flora D. Crittenden Middle School blew up under their feet.

Two workers were released from the hospital yesterday. A ninth man is recovering from a related accident in which an ambulance responding to the scene of the explosion slammed into the driver's side door of his car.

Shortly before 7 a.m. Sunday, Newport News firefighters and police responded to a report of an explosion at Crittenden.

When medics arrived, they found eight men with varying degrees of injuries suffered during the explosion. A fire crew that was first on the scene began treating the wounded, said Battalion Chief Steve Pincus of the Newport News Fire Department. At 7:16 a.m., a second alarm was called "because of the explosion, and for mass casualties," Pincus said.

Initially, four of the victims were transported to Riverside Regional Medical Center, three to Sentara CarePlex Hospital in Hampton and one to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital for burns and other injuries, said Lou Thurston, a Newport News police spokesman. All were taken by ambulance and all but one were placed on advanced life support. Two of the victims originally taken to Riverside were later flown by helicopter to Norfolk General and two were flown to VCU Medical Center in Richmond, Thurston said.

The victims were contractors working for T.R. Driscoll Inc. of Lumberton, N.C., Thurston said. The workers were using propane to melt tar to spread on the roof, but it's not certain if that played a role in causing the explosion, Thurston said. The crew had been working on the repairs for about five weeks.

The explosion, which occurred inside the building, blew out a 20-foot-by-50-foot section of a wall from a technology-education and living-skills classroom in the rear of the building. The blast also moved a second wall "a few feet" off its foundation, Thurston said.

Though firefighters were able to contain the damage to the rear, Newport News Superintendent Ashby C. Kilgore decided to close the school so tests could be conducted on the fire alarm and electrical systems, said Michelle Price, a school system spokeswoman. The school will be open today, Price said.

The incident is under investigation by the Newport News Fire Marshall's Office with assistance from the Police Department.

Because it has been classified as an industrial incident, the explosion also is being investigated by the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry. The Newport News Fire Department's Technical Rescue Team will secure the affected area to ensure it is safe for investigators to enter and complete their investigation.