Happy 4th!

We certainly had a memorable 4th. We have spent the weekend at Ocracoke (an island on the outer banks where Glenn and Mandy have a house). You have to take a ferry to get here. From our direction you ride a 2 hour 15 minute ferry. From the north end the ferry is about 40 minutes, I think. Anyway, right at 9:00am, there was a huge explosion that shook the house. I thought it sounded like some strange kind of thunder that just kept rumbling. Carey thought it sounded like something blew up in here and water was then rushing through/pouring through the house. We looked out the porch and (in addition to the gazillion other people we saw rushing out to look, including a man in his boxers which had Bryant in stitches) saw what looked like a huge white mushroom cloud. As it began to fade, darker clouds of smoke were seen. If you have not heard, the fireworks truck blew up. They were just beginning to unload the fireworks and set them up for the celebration that night. As they opened the back door to the truck, it blew up. It threw one person to the water. One person died quickly, and 4 were taken to the burn unit in Chapel Hill, I think. Two more have since died, and the remaining 2 are in critical condition. They immediately turned the ferry around and sent them back -- they were very close to landing. I can't imaging how frustrating it must have been to see the island and then be turned around. They did not allow anyone to come over on that ferry all day. The northern ferry was closed for much of the day to allow emergency vehicles on and off. It took quite a while for the helicopters to get here for the injured people, but fortunately there was some medical support on the island. It was very tragic.

Today, we are thankful that more people were not injured in the accident. This was only the 3rd year fireworks have been planned on this island. I'm guessing that might be because they must drive those things over on a ferry. Can you imagine being on the ferry with a loaded truck of fireworks? I don't know if they will ever do it again. I'm praying that the others injured will heal quickly and with minimal pain. Having been in the burn unit at Chapel Hill, I know it is a very scary, hard place to be. These people were all from Rock Hill, SC, so I hope their families are able to come be with them. Every time I see fireworks from now on, I will probably remember this firework show that did not happen and just how dangerous a business fireworks can be.