My hometown of Roseburg, Oregon was devastated in 1959 by the explosion of a truck containing over 6 tons of explosive material. The truck had been parked next to Gerretson’s Building Supply in downtown Roseburg. I was only five years old. We lived about two miles from the blast area, but the early morning blast reportedly woke everyone on our block… except for me. I slept through it. I remember seeing the blast area as we drove slowly past some time later.
A web page about the blast:
George Rutherford, the man who had been instructed by his boss to park the truck downtown, lived and carried the burden for the rest of his life. Here is his story.
A British broadcast about the blast:
The Roseburg Blast Walking Tour. Section 1:
Section 2:
Section 3:
A news broadcast on the anniversary of the blast in 2012:
Here is a link to a webpage about the blast by the city of Roseburg
A home-movie video showing the devastation: