REDSTONE ARSENAL, AL—
Funeral arrangements are set for two men who died following an explosion at Redstone Arsenal earlier this week. Jerry A. Grimes, of Hartselle, and James R. Hawke, of Hazel Green, will be laid to rest in the coming days.Both men were burned in an explosion Wednesday morning at Test Area 10, on the southern portion of the Arsenal outside Building 7352. They were working to get rid of ammonium perchlorate, a chemical used in rocket fuel. The men died Wednesday evening at UAB Burn Center in Birmingham.
The men were employed by AMTEC Corp. of Huntsville.
The company released a statement Thursday afternoon, saying "We are deeply saddened by these events and remain steadfast to our commitment to investigate the situation, discover the cause and work to prevent future incidents from occurring."
Funeral arrangements for the two men were announced Thursday evening.
For Jerry Grimes, visitation will be this Friday, May 7 from 6 to 9 p.m. at Peck's Funeral Home in Hartselle. There will be a second visitation at the same location on Saturday May 8 at 11:00am. Burial will follow at Center Spring Methodist Church in Somerville.
For James Hawke, there will be a wake on Tuesday, May 11 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Holy Spirit Catholic Church on Airport Road. The funeral mass will be Wednesday, May 12 at 10 a.m., also at Holy Spirit Catholic Church.
There is a memorial fund set up at Redstone Federal Credit Union for the benefit of surviving spouses and their families. You can contribute at any branch.
We have learned that Jerry Grimes was a pastor at Pine Street Independent Baptist Church in Falkville. Church members said he had been a pastor there for a few months.
We also know that James Hawke, Jr. had moved to Hazel Green from Utah in the last few years.
"We who are a part of Team Redstone share a close bond," said Maj. Gen. Jim Myles, Commanding General of AMCOM and Redstone Arsenal "When one of our own is hurt, it affects us all. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family members and friends of those who passed away."
The explosion happened at approximately 8:45 a.m. Wednesday, May 5 at Building 7352, an Aviation Missile Research Development & Engineering Center facility, more commonly known as AMRDEC. The building is on Flicker Road.
The Arsenal says AMTEC contractors were working to 'demilitarize' explosive materials, that is, recycle or get rid of them in a safe manner. In this case, they were demilitarizing a tactical missile. They were working to separate ammonium perchlorate from other chemicals, and during the process, something exploded.
"This is an inherently dangerous operation when you're dealing with chemical compounds and explosives operations," said Paul Turner, Associate Director of Propulsion Technology at AMRDEC.
The building the two men were in exploded, but this building was designed to fall apart in an explosion -- that is, the roof & sides were designed to take the force of the explosion, blow off, and protect the workers. In this case, the Arsenal said the building fell apart just as it was supposed to. An Arsenal spokesperson said the building had recently passed safety inspections and was designed specifically to minimize the impact of possible explosions.
"We do some things out here sometimes that are a little high risk or dangerous at times, but I tell you, we take safety as priority number one," said Colonel Bob Pastorelli, Redstone Arsenal Garrison Commander.
A third person was in an igloo-type structure off to the side of the building that exploded. That person was not hurt.
Huntsville Police, Huntsville Fire and HEMSI responded to the Arsenal shortly after the explosion to help. According to Don Webster with HEMSI, paramedics treated two men at the scene. One was taken by helicopter to the UAB Burn Center in Birmingham, and the second person was taken by helicopter to Huntsville Hospital. He was later transferred to the UAB Burn Center as well.
"They're great Americans, each and everything they do each and every day is for the war fighter," said Turner. "Even though they are civilians, their contribution to our American war fighter is immeasurable."
After the explosion, the Arsenal sent an email to workers in nearby buildings to let them know about it, and to say the situation was NOT an exercise. In the email, they asked workers to stay inside until they hear otherwise.
AMRDEC employees do this process 10 to 12 times a year to demilitarize old missiles. Redstone's Garrison Commander says investigators will look into the situation closely to find out what went wrong in this case, so it doesn't happen again.
"We will get to the root cause of why this occurred," said Col. Pastorelli. "We have the right professionals here on the Arsenal now."
