N.C. Fire Pit Explosion Kills Man, Injures Four Others

Sept. 15--Shrapnel from an exploding fire pit killed one man and injured four others Saturday night in a western Fayetteville neighborhood.

Charles Wright, 37, said he was one of about seven adults and 10 children sitting around the fire pit in the driveway of a home at 6544 St. Louis St. There was loud conversation, dancing to music playing on a car radio and a little bit of beer, he said.

Seconds before the explosion at about 8:30 p.m., Wright said, he gave his seat to another man and started to make a phone call.

"It knocked me on the ground," Wright said. "I can feel how it felt -- that pressure on the side of my body. It's something I'll never forget."

The man who took his seat died, Wright said.

Others were hurt by the shrapnel.

The Fayetteville Fire Department said three adults and one child were taken to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center with injuries that aren't life-threatening.

The neighborhood is off Bunce Road, not far from the John D. Fuller Recreation complex.

A Fayetteville police spokesman said in a news release that one person was pronounced dead at the scene but had not identified the victim as of 11 p.m.

"Several other subjects received various injuries; none appear to be life-threatening at this time," police said.

Fayetteville firefighters and police used yellow tape to restrict access for about a block away from the home while investigating the cause of what they said appears to be an accident.

Dozens of family members and neighbors lingered just outside the taped-off perimeter, some crying uncontrollably.

Neighbors said the explosion shook their home like an artillery boom from Fort Bragg.

Steven Kefauver, 12, who was at the fire pit at his next-door neighbor's house, said his sister, Brianna, 14, had shrapnel wounds on her arm and was taken to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center.

Steven, who appeared to have been crying, had minor wounds on his leg.

"We heard a small boom, and then a big one," Steven said. "The whole thing blew up."

Their father, Jay Kefauver, was driving home from work when his son called him about the explosion. It seems like a freak accident, he said.

"We've had bonfires before. We have a fire pit ourselves. We use it all the time," Kefauver said. "I'm worried about my daughter, and I'm worried about my neighbors."

Wright described a horrifying scene afterward, losing his composure as he spoke.

He said an oil-filled candle near the fire pit may have somehow caused the explosion.

Even the car parked nearby was heavily damaged. Wright said it "looked like somebody shot it with an Uzi."

Staff writer John Ramsey can be reached at [email protected] or 486-3574.

Copyright 2013 - The Fayetteville Observer, N.C.