Benton fireworks disaster
| Time | 9:15 AM (EST) |
|---|---|
| Date | May 27, 1983 |
| Location | Webb's Bait Farm, Benton, Tennessee |
| Also known as | Webb Farm disaster |
| Cause | Undetermined |
| Deaths | 11 |
| Non-fatal injuries | 1 |
| Accused | Dan Lee Webb, owner |
| Convicted | Dan Lee Webb |
The Benton fireworks disaster was an industrial disaster that occurred on May 27, 1983 on a farm near Benton, Tennessee. An explosion killed eleven, injured one, and revealed a secret unlicensed factory producing illegal fireworks. The operation was by far the largest known illegal fireworks operation.
Webb's Bait Farm, located along Welcome Valley Road near an intersection with State Route 314 in rural Polk County, grew/manufactured worms and other fishing bait and sold fishing equipment and was owned by Dan Lee Webb, aged 30 at the time of the disaster.
In December 1982, Webb, Howard Emmett Bramblett of nearby Ocoee, and David Parks decided to start manufacturing illegal M-80 and M-100 fireworks in an old metal dairy barn on the farm. They employed several family members of Webb and Parks. Most employees were unaware and not educated in the dangerous working conditions. Between December 1982 and the date of the explosion, at least 1,542,000 of the M-series fireworks were reported to have been manufactured at the factory and distributed to at least twelve states.
On May 27, 1983 at approximately 9:15 AM, eleven workers were on duty when a cache of M-80 and M-100 explosives, flash powder, and other chemicals in the 40-by-70-foot (12 m × 21 m) barn detonated producing a massive explosion, instantly killing all eleven workers and leveling the barn. The initial blast was followed by several smaller blasts witnesses described as sounding like shotguns, and are believed to have been of individual firework cases that were not detonated in the initial blast. Dan Lee Webb's cousin Tommy Lee Webb, who was mowing the grass near the site, was reported to have been thrown more than 70 yards. The blast also threw debris as far as 200 yards away from the site, and produced a shock wave that leveled trees as far as 100 yards away. Bodies were hurled through the roofs of the nearby house and carport and as far away as 500 feet from the site. Nothing in the barn was left intact; all of the bodies had lost limbs and six were decapitated. Some were stripped by the force of the blast. Several witnesses claimed to have seen a white mushroom cloud which was estimated to be 600 to 800 feet tall, and the blast was heard and felt in Cleveland over 20 miles away. Several 911 calls were received moments after the initial blast, and within minutes, several police units arrived on the scene. Tommy Lee Webb, who was critically injured, was taken to Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga with burns on about 35 percent of his body. A Tennessee Emergency Management Association (TEMA) crew, which included forensic anthropologist Dr. William M. Bass, later arrived on the scene to identify the victims.
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