I raced home from the taco trailer on the east side, in hopes of beating my friend Michael Cummings to that night’s bar of choice for cocktails. I ran inside, dropped off my bike, and rushed back out the door on foot. The bar is about 4 blocks from my place.
About 1/2 way into my walk, I’m stopped in my tracks by a loud explosion across the street from where I was walking. I turned, and within seconds there was smoke billowing out of the side of the building. So I ran around to try and get a closer view of what was going on. I thought it was a bomb. As I got closer, I see my friend Michael helping someone get clear of the vehicle that was engulfed in flames. The man was almost naked, and covered in the anti-retardant coming from the overhead extinguishers. His clothes were blown off by the power of the blast.
Almost immediately, I started shooting video with my iPhone. What resulted was about 5 minutes of video of the scene unfolding.
Yesterday, I was returning to the office from lunch with a co-worker. We were rehashing our weekends to each other. There was a lady walking slightly infront of us. When I pulled out my phone to show him the video of the explosion, she interjected and made it known that she was a reporter for a local TV station. Three hours later, I was being interviewed by another reporter, along with Michael. I passed on the video that was shot over to the reporter as well. The result was this report about the events.
Since the report aired, we’re been contacted by the victim’s family about his conditions. Apparently, he was moving scuba equipment, when one of the tanks exploded. He received 2nd and 3rd degree burns over 70% of his body. The doctors say he is going to have a recovery time of 5-7 months.