Shake it up
I can't stand last minute Ebay snipers. Last night one beat me on a fantastic vintage t-shirt that I was really excited about and that I was sure no one else would want. I was wrong.
What was the shirt? Oh, it's silly, but it has meaning to me. It's an "I survived the blast of '88" t-shirt with "Henderson, Nevada" on the bottom. Why is this special to me? Because I actually did survive that blast, and I've never been able to actually own an "I survived shirt..." for real before. Seeing that shirt on a random search of an Ebay vintage seller's stuff took me back! I was only 10 at the time, but I remember the experience very vividly. For background on the Pepcon Rocket Fuel Plant explosion, click on this link.
The morning of May 4, 1988, I was at school. Our school was only a few miles from the Pepcon plant. We were all outside for P.E. or lunch at that time in the big park next to our school. I remember being up on the hill in the park and seeing a huge column of smoke off in the distance. My friends and I were confused, and then we heard it. It was the loudest explosion and concussion wave I've ever experienced. I still remember what it felt like, but I can't even describe it. I know I felt the wind and that my ears felt like they were full of cotton for a moment. Watch the video linked in the Wiki article for what the concussion wave looked like, it's amazing.
Anyway, once the blast shook us to the core, many of the other kids outside went nuts. Everyone started running away from the blast. I feel sorry for the teachers who had to corral us, it must have been like herding cats. I don't remember running myself, but I just remember the visual from being up on the hill and seeing a huge crowd of kids just start running.
From there, they rounded us up and had us wait in lines until our parents could come get us. I don't remember if there was an air hazard threat (it was ammonium perchlorate that was burning) at all, but they definitely sent everyone home. My mom came to get me in the old red station wagon - which was filled with my dog, my cat and my gerbils in their cage. I don't remember why she brought all the critters with her, I'm assuming it was some safety thing that she may have been advised to do. My whole family reads this blog - so, if anyone remembers why mom had to bring all the pets, comment away.
In any case, the Wiki article you read is true about the damage to homes. It's insane - we lived miles away from that place and yet it blew our big heavy front door off its hinges and into our front foyer. The front wall of our home was cracked, as were a few of our windows. My mom said she was in the kitchen when it happened, and she was blown up against the counter when the blast wave roared through and knocked in our front door.
Beyond that, the only thing I was sad about was that the awesome marshmallow factory next to the Pepcon plant was leveled. We toured that frequently with our school groups, and so I was bummed. No more Kidd's marshmallow tours.
Anyway, isn't it amazing how certain memories just get pushed back into our minds somewhere - only to be dusted off and brought to the forefront by some random reminder? That's what this t-shirt was to me. I'm assuming it might have been the same for the other bidder.
I can't stand last minute Ebay snipers. Last night one beat me on a fantastic vintage t-shirt that I was really excited about and that I was sure no one else would want. I was wrong.
What was the shirt? Oh, it's silly, but it has meaning to me. It's an "I survived the blast of '88" t-shirt with "Henderson, Nevada" on the bottom. Why is this special to me? Because I actually did survive that blast, and I've never been able to actually own an "I survived shirt..." for real before. Seeing that shirt on a random search of an Ebay vintage seller's stuff took me back! I was only 10 at the time, but I remember the experience very vividly. For background on the Pepcon Rocket Fuel Plant explosion, click on this link.
The morning of May 4, 1988, I was at school. Our school was only a few miles from the Pepcon plant. We were all outside for P.E. or lunch at that time in the big park next to our school. I remember being up on the hill in the park and seeing a huge column of smoke off in the distance. My friends and I were confused, and then we heard it. It was the loudest explosion and concussion wave I've ever experienced. I still remember what it felt like, but I can't even describe it. I know I felt the wind and that my ears felt like they were full of cotton for a moment. Watch the video linked in the Wiki article for what the concussion wave looked like, it's amazing.
Anyway, once the blast shook us to the core, many of the other kids outside went nuts. Everyone started running away from the blast. I feel sorry for the teachers who had to corral us, it must have been like herding cats. I don't remember running myself, but I just remember the visual from being up on the hill and seeing a huge crowd of kids just start running.
From there, they rounded us up and had us wait in lines until our parents could come get us. I don't remember if there was an air hazard threat (it was ammonium perchlorate that was burning) at all, but they definitely sent everyone home. My mom came to get me in the old red station wagon - which was filled with my dog, my cat and my gerbils in their cage. I don't remember why she brought all the critters with her, I'm assuming it was some safety thing that she may have been advised to do. My whole family reads this blog - so, if anyone remembers why mom had to bring all the pets, comment away.
In any case, the Wiki article you read is true about the damage to homes. It's insane - we lived miles away from that place and yet it blew our big heavy front door off its hinges and into our front foyer. The front wall of our home was cracked, as were a few of our windows. My mom said she was in the kitchen when it happened, and she was blown up against the counter when the blast wave roared through and knocked in our front door.
Beyond that, the only thing I was sad about was that the awesome marshmallow factory next to the Pepcon plant was leveled. We toured that frequently with our school groups, and so I was bummed. No more Kidd's marshmallow tours.
Anyway, isn't it amazing how certain memories just get pushed back into our minds somewhere - only to be dusted off and brought to the forefront by some random reminder? That's what this t-shirt was to me. I'm assuming it might have been the same for the other bidder.
posted by H at
9:37 AM
4 Comments:
Wow, cool story. Maybe the other person that got the shirt was one of your classmates!
So, is this area still producing all the
ammonium perchlorate? If so, that's sort of scary. I wonder how the fires ever went out, the article didn't say.
I was ten and in 5th grade and I have absolutely no recollection of this whatsoever, not even from those funny kiddie pseudo-newspapers they used to make us read--what were they called? they were so funny. anyway, then again I can't really remember anything about 5th grade.
OMG!! I was trying to track down one of those shirts, too!!! I was in 1st grade at Estes McDaniel when it happened, and was just retelling the story to my roommate. I had a shirt when it first happened, but with all of my moving (I'm in Atlanta now), I've lost it...
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