Responders Became Heroes at N.C. Blast Scene

Southwood volunteer firefighter Waylon Skinner always keeps his firefighting gear in his truck.

That's a good thing, because on Wednesday, the 23-year-old West Pharmaceutical Services employee needed it to help rescue of one of his co-workers.

Skinner and about six other firefighters climbed to the complex's roof to rescue a newly hired co-worker trapped in the factory's mixing department.

"It was my first rescue," a sooty-faced Skinner said as he prepared to rejoin the fight against the flames inside the 28-year-old factory.

Skinner was just one of dozens of volunteer firefighters and other emergency responders from all over Lenoir County and elsewhere in Eastern North Carolina who raced heroically to the Rouse Road Extension factory to help.

The need was great: While most of the roughly 134 workers on duty escaped the building without trouble, others were trapped in the rubble or were cornered by flames.

"During the peak of the fire, there were multiple rescues made," said Greg Smith, director of operations for the Kinston public safety department.

When firefighters arrived, some workers were hanging from the steel beams of the factory's penthouse area. Others were pinned under fallen debris.

Some victims suffered severe burns or head injuries from falling debris. Many of the injured were taken to Lenoir Memorial Hospital for treatment, while others were taken to hospitals in Greenville, Goldsboro, Chapel Hill and Durham.

Dr. Thomas Tomasco was working at his Herritage Street office when he heard the explosion and saw a white cloud of smoke rising from the factory site.

The former Pennsylvania firefighter and emergency medical technician immediately closed his office and drove to the scene to help.

"I've done this before," Tomasco said. "I figured they could use hands."

Among the patients Tomasco treated was a man who suffered burns to his face, chest and arms.

The doctor said he had to insert an intravenous saline line into an artery at the man's collarbone because his arms were so badly burned.

Tomasco was joined at the scene by a handful of doctors and nurses from nearby Lenoir Memorial Hospital, as well as dozens of emergency medical responders and rescue squad members.

Firefighter David McClaine knew something big had happened when he felt the blast in Grifton, some 15 miles away.

"I was in my shop in my back yard and I felt it rattle my garage door," he said. "The same time I heard it, the door just shook."

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