Explosion at site of former Midland Valley car shops, Muskogee, Oklahoma

[kog1027]

There was a huge explosion at roughly 8pm CST this evening at the site of the former Midland Vally car shops in Muskogee, Oklahoma.

The car shop site is now used by Yaffe Iron and Metal for a scrap metal yard, with the adjacent yard tracks being used by the Union Pacific for scrap loading and general car storage.

The explosion was strong enough to shake our house which is almost 25 miles away.

See these links for more information:

http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/news/updates/10645.html

http://www.kotv.com/main/home/stories.asp?whichpage=1&id=75086

I'm familiar with the area and Yaffe's operation, the only thing I can think of that could have generated that big a blast would have been an LGP Tank Car. If I recall correctly the scrap metal operation gets gas in bulk by rail, so this could be a potential source for the explosion.

The area is predominately residential, with Yaffe being the only sizable industrial component. The houses are almost all old Railroad built housing densly packed on small lots.

This will likely put a lot of people out of house and home that can ill afford it.

Mark Gosdin

[MP57313]

This got a brief mention on CBS radio news. Wouldn't Yaffe or its insurance carrier cover the cost of lodging for those people displaced by the explosion? That's what UP did out here, after a derailment damaged/destroyed some homes.