Kentucky ARES Teams Have Busy Month:

Amateur Radio Emergency Service members stood ready to help February 20 after an insulation factory exploded near Corbin in southern Kentucky. The blast killed one worker and injured 43 others. With the area still reeling from an ice storm and flooding earlier in the month, commercial communication and power system delivery were spotty. Kentucky Section Emergency Coordinator Ron Dodson, KA4MAP, said there were initial reports that burn victims from the factory fire also possibly suffered cyanide exposure. He said Kentucky ARRL Official Emergency Station Ron Nutter, KA4KYI, was instructed by Lexington Emergency Management to help with getting vital chemical information from the affected area to treating hospitals, so doctors would be prepared for the injured and implement decontamination procedures. Nutter contacted two other Lexington hams--William DeVore, N4DIT, and Joseph Leitner, WD4EJA, both of whom still had power at their residences--to call into Corbin-area repeaters and ask for information on the chemicals. It was determined subsequently that there was no chemical contamination of the injured. The factory disaster apparently began near a furnace, where raw fiberglass is mixed with a resin. The blaze sent black smoke billowing through residential areas, forcing hundreds of people to temporarily evacuate. On February 24, operations ceased for amateurs involved Lexington-Fayette County ARES in response to the weather emergency. ARES members were on duty for more than a week.

Source:

The ARRL Letter Vol. 22, No. 09 February 28, 2003

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