Deadly July Fourth blast continues to rattle Ocracoke

OCRACOKE ISLAND, N.C.

In a parking lot at the south end of this coastal village, most of the visible signs of a deadly fireworks truck explosion are gone.

The site, at one of the prettiest corners of the island, has been restored. But many members of this tiny, tight-knit community remain solemn.

"I have not talked to anybody who has not felt it deeply," said Ann Warner, 51, owner of the busy spot Howard's Pub. "It is just a sadness."

The explosion eight days ago turned Ocracoke into a temporary disaster area and thrust it into the national spotlight.

Four pyrotechnics workers who had come here from Goldsboro died, and another survived with painful burns. It was the third year most of the same crew had come to the island, and they were familiar faces to many community members.

Warner, a 20-year resident of the island, said many islanders rushed to help in any way they could. Firefighters, including her almost 16-year-old son Blackburn already at the scene preparing for the July Fourth show, quickly put out secondary vehicle and brush fires.

"I was extremely rattled," she said. "Everybody was."

But with their island filled with thousands of visitors, the community barely has had time to mourn.

"It was paralyzing in the sense that it was a horrific accident," Warner said. "But you had to keep going. You couldn't just close the doors.... You've got to move forward as a matter of survival."

Situated on the southern end of the Outer Banks, Ocracoke Village is still populated by many native families with roots that go back hundreds of years.

Villagers' independence and self-reliance is a byproduct of the centuries-old tradition of living off the water, home gardens and livestock that freely roamed the 16-mile island. Until after Cape Hatteras National Seashore was created in 1953 - protecting most of the island from development - there was not even a highway on Ocracoke.

Today, tourism is a booming business on the island. Even though Ocracoke is accessible only by ferry or airplane, the 800 or so year-round residents welcome thousands of tourists in the summer. At the height of the season, as many as 11,000 visitors will be biking or driving on the narrow village streets.

The onslaught of media attention on the accident did not escape the tourists. Until the site of the explosion was cleaned, gawkers lined the fence, said Jesse Spencer with Beach Towing & Wrecker Service.

"I had to hire a security guard to keep people out the next day," he said. "They wanted to get as close as they could to look."

Angie Radabaugh, who's lived here for 18 months, said signs had been posted on the doors of businesses thanking everybody for helping out. But people soon came along and took the signs off the doors or asked for copies.

"Just for memorabilia," she said. "This type of incident has never ever happened before on Ocracoke Island. Afterward, people were streaming to the gas station trying to get the heck out."

Within days, barely any evidence remained of the explosion. The parking lot behind the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching - the old Coast Guard station overlooking Silver Lake - where the truck exploded appears undamaged, blighted only with a few black smudges.

Charred patches of brush can be seen along the Pamlico Sound beach behind the pavement. An American flag and a small stuffed animal wearing a red, white and blue flower necklace and beads were placed outside the fenced area with seashells, candles and flowers scattered nearby.

The white Ryder truck that held the explosives could be driven away, Spencer said, probably because the powerful blast exploded upward. The cab was intact with just a cracked windshield. But the mid-part of the exposed bed was charred.

Islanders have been whispering, "What if?" What if a family with a baby in a stroller was walking by? What if they had been on the ferry? Or if the truck had exploded closer to the heart of the village? What if the fire spread?

"It was real fortunate that it was contained," said Robert Raborn, the dockmaster at Anchorage Marina, which is across the harbor from the fireworks site. "This is a bad place for a fire. There could have been worse places and times for that to happen."

Albert O'Neal, Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Department chief, said a handful of firefighters had just finished hosing down the area - a routine precaution taken to prevent stray fires during the display - and were taking a break away from the area when the truck suddenly exploded.

Initially, they had to duck behind fire trucks as the fireworks shot across the area. As quickly as possible, the firefighters started putting out numerous brush fires and helped in rescue efforts for the victims.

Each of the three fire trucks looked like it had hail damage, he said.

O'Neal, 37, an eighth-generation native, said that it is the worst tragedy in memory on the island. The only comparison he has heard cited by a number of islanders was when a sailboat mast hit a power line about 30 years ago, electrocuting several people. The chief said he is proud of the way the Fire Department responded.

"Everybody was Johnny-on-the-spot," he said. Of its 31 members, he said, 28 were on the scene.

As a group of firefighters at the firehouse were talking about the incident, a nearby electrical transformer made a loud pop. Momentarily, the men started.

"What the heck was that?" O'Neal said with a nervous laugh.

"We'll be living with this for a long time," said John Manning, the department's captain.

Pub owner Warner said she was heartened by the outpouring of sympathy and concern from people all over the country for the victims and for its impact on the islanders. Nightmarish as it was, she said, the accident showed the strength and unity of the community.

But Warner said she could do without another fireworks display.

"I feel like," she said, "there are other ways we can celebrate."

Catherine Kozak, (252) 441-1711, cate.kozak@pilotonline.com