Blast at a Tennessee explosives plant leaves 18 missing and feared dead,
sheriff says
[October 11, 2025]
By TRAVIS LOLLER
McEWEN, Tenn. (AP) — A blast leveled an explosives plant Friday in rural
Tennessee, leaving behind a mass of twisted metal, burned-out shells of
cars and at least 18 people missing and feared dead, authorities said.
“There’s nothing to describe. It’s gone,” Humphreys County Sheriff Chris
Davis said of the blast site at Accurate Energetic Systems, which
supplies and researches explosives for the military.
He said it was one of the worst scenes he’s ever seen and especially
gut-wrenching because he knows three families connected to the tragedy.
Davis said multiple people were killed, but he declined to say how many,
referring to the 18 missing as “souls” because officials were still
speaking to family.
Officials had originally said 19 people were missing, but Humphreys
County Emergency Management Agency updated that number Friday night
after they said one person believed to be on site was found safe at
home.
The blast occurred at about 7:45 a.m., Davis said. Aerial footage showed
the company's hilltop location smoldering and smoky. Debris was
scattered over at least a half-mile area, and people more than 15 miles
(24 kilometers) away felt the explosion, he said.
The company’s website says it processes explosives and ammunition at an
eight-building facility that sprawls across wooded hills in the
Bucksnort area, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) southwest of Nashville.
It's not immediately known how many people worked at the plant or how
many were there when the explosion happened.
Davis said investigators are trying to determine what happened and
couldn't say what caused the explosion. Emergency crews were initially
unable to enter the plant because of continuing detonations, said
Hickman County Advanced EMT David Stewart.
By Friday afternoon, there was no further danger of explosions, and the
scene was under control, said Grey Collier, a spokesperson for the
Humphreys County Emergency Management Agency.
Accurate Energetic Systems, based in nearby McEwen, said in a post on
social media that their “thoughts and prayers" are with the families and
community impacted.
“We extend our gratitude to all first responders who continue to work
tirelessly under difficult conditions,” the post said.
The company has been awarded numerous military contracts, largely by the
U.S. Army and Navy, to supply different types of munitions and
explosives, according to public records. The products ranged from bulk
explosives to landmines and small breaching charges, including C4.
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Smoke fills the air as debris covers the ground and vehicles after a
powerful blast ripped through a military explosives manufacturing
plant in Hickman County, Tenn., on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. (WTVF-TV
via AP)
When the explosion occurred, residents in Lobelville, a 20-minute
drive from the scene, said they felt their homes shake, and some
people captured the loud boom of the explosion on their home
cameras.
The blast rattled Gentry Stover from his sleep.
“I thought the house had collapsed with me inside of it,” he told
The Associated Press. “I live very close to Accurate and I realized
about 30 seconds after I woke up that it had to have been that.”
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee posted on the social platform X that he is
monitoring the situation and asked “Tennesseans to join us in prayer
for the families impacted by this tragic incident.”
State Rep. Jody Barrett, from the neighboring town of Dickson, was
worried about the possible economic impact because the plant is a
key employer in the area.
“We absolutely heard it at the house,” Barrett said. “It sounded
like something going through the roof of our house.”
A small group gathered for a vigil Friday night at a nearby park,
clutching candles as they prayed for the missing and their families
and sang “Amazing Grace."
The U.S. has a long history of deadly accidents at workplaces,
including the Monongah coal mine explosion that killed 362 men and
boys in West Virginia in 1907. Several high-profile industrial
accidents in the 1960s helped lead President Richard Nixon to sign a
law creating the Occupational Safety and Health Administration the
next year.
In 2019, Accurate Energetic Systems faced several small fines from
the U.S. Department of Labor for violations of policies meant to
protect workers from exposure to hazardous chemicals, radiation and
other irritants, according to citations from OSHA.
In 2014, an explosion occurred at another ammunition facility in the
same small community, killing one person and injuring at least three
others.
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