Investigation Delayed By Fire in Plant Explosion

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - UPDATE: Chemring Group PLC, which owns the Toone Kilgore Flares plant, released a statement Wednesday which stated, in part: "Although the fire was contained, three employees sustained flash burns in the incident and two were treated for stress. A full and immediate investigation into the cause of the incident has been launched in co-operation with the local regulatory authorities."

Federal, state and local agencies are on the scene investigating what sparked the explosion at Kilgore.

Managers at the plant say they are going to let the fire burn itself out but the sheriff said there is a possibility of another explosion. One witness and employee said she will not go back to work there after what she witnessed today.

"Everybody was just running. So I just ran out then I saw some people on fire and they were telling them to drop and roll," said Gretchen Ellison.

Ellison was still shaken hours after an explosion and fire that injured four people at Kilgore Flare Manufacturing in Toone, Tennessee Tuesday.

"I just saw sparks flying and everybody said to run and we heard a loud boom and everybody started running out of the building," said Ellison.

Tammy Posser was delivering food at the facility at the time.

"It was chaos, the cop cars, ambulances, and then the helicopters. I'm sure everybody was praying it wasn't somebody they knew," said Posser.

Around 5:00pm Tuesday evening, smoke could still be seen coming from the north end of the plant. The company makes flares used to protect military planes from heat-seeking missiles.

A statement from the company said the fire was isolated to one of the assembly facilities. Because of the material involved, the sheriff said there's no way to fight the fire. They plan to let it burn itself out before the investigation into the cause gets underway but, he's not ruling out another explosion.

"There's nobody that's been able to get to that building to verify all the materials gone or not so," said Sheriff John Doolen.

Kilgore employs between 200 and 400 people. Since the last fiscal year the Department of Defense has awarded Kilgore contracts valued at almost $100 million.

"It's a real big part of this community, economy wise, we have a lot of jobs here," said Sheriff Doolen.

Ellison said they're trained on how to handle emergency situations but even still, she doesn't plan on going back to work there.

"{Reporter} did you feel safe working there? {Gretchen Ellison} yes."

The sheriff said they have ruled out terrorism as a cause. No word on how long it will take for the fire to burn itself out. The ATF, FBI and Homeland Security are on site as they wait to get in the building to start their investigation.