“At this time, we have not located any survivors.” — Chris Davis, Humphreys County Sheriff
Not long ago, I was at a plant to facilitate a HazOp and LOPA for one of their processes. As is usually the case, my visit included going out to the process, accompanied by my host—an engineer from one of the company’s sites in another city—to inspect the process. While I was at the plant, a massive fire broke out at an adjacent facility. It was big enough to threaten the unit I had been inspecting and plant security sounded the emergency sirens.
We were in a conference room at the time the sirens went off, so the HazOp team evacuated to the closest mustering point, which was not where most of the team members would normally have gone. While we milled around watching the fire next door burn, we observed plant security personnel redirect the fire trucks that showed up at our plant instead of next door.
While I waited at the muster point, I kept expecting someone with a list of all the visitors who had signed in and hadn’t signed out to confirm that we were accounted for. It never happened.
During that emergency, no one seemed to care whether I was there. Or as I found out later, whether my host was there. Or whether anyone involved in the HazOp was safe.
I thought about that experience as I read about the fatal explosion at a munition plant in Bucksnort, Tennessee.
A Munitions Plant Explosion in Bucksnort, Tennessee
At 7:50 am on Friday, October 10, there was a massive explosion at the munitions plant in Bucksnort, Tennessee. Operated by Accurate Energetic Systems, the plant was on the boundary between Humphreys County and Hickman County, Tennessee, about 60 miles southwest of Nashville.
Shortly after the explosion, emergency responders began a search for survivors. Nearby hospitals reported that they had or were treating walk-in patients. Altogether, “four or five people were taken to nearby hospitals after the enormous explosion that levelled the factory.”
By Friday afternoon, first responders, officials, and the press believed that 19 people were unaccounted for. That afternoon, Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis told the press, “A lot of times, when I have these types of situations, I refer to them more than just a person…we’re missing 19 souls.”
Late on Friday evening, however, one of the 19 unaccounted people called from home to say that they hadn’t been at the plant when it exploded. Emergency responders continued their search, now looking for 18 missing people.
Late on Saturday afternoon, the sheriff told the press that two of the missing, “whose vehicles and belongings were found at the scene” were not at the plant when it exploded. At that press conference, Sheriff Davis also announced that because they had not located any survivors in the debris field that was once a munitions factory, “We are making the assumption that all are deceased at this time.”
“No Survivors”
The weekend following the explosion at AES, the press widely reported that there were “no survivors.” That didn’t make sense. Even if the three people who later showed up elsewhere aren’t considered “survivors”, aren’t the “four or five” walk-in patients that local hospitals treated and released survivors? (By the way, why “four or five”? That number can be counted on one hand.)
Clearly, what the sheriff meant was that they were no longer searching for additional survivors. The operation was no longer a rescue effort, but a recovery effort. Nonetheless, sixteen families continued to cling to hope for a miracle as the search went on.
Emergencies Can Be Chaotic
Immediately following the explosion at the Bucksnort factory, there was a lot of confusion about the number of potential victims. Apparently, there was a very poor accounting of personnel in the facility—the building destroyed by the explosion was one of eight on the 1,300-acre property. Because of that, it took emergency responders more than a day to know who they were looking for. Ultimately, the annals of industrial disasters will report that there were 16 fatalities and 4 serious injuries associated with the October 10, 2025, explosion at the AES facility in Bucksnort, Tennessee.
But They Don’t Have to Be
Many facilities have systems to track personnel who are on site. It is important for all of us to cooperate with signing in AND signing out. That way, if there is an emergency, officials will know for whom they need to account. And during an emergency, it is important to be accounted for. Don’t leave, even to go for medical treatment, until responders know about the departure and have accounted for it.
Responding to a fatal incident is tough enough. Let’s not make it tougher.
