ASHLAND CITY, Tenn. (WKRN) — Multiple people were injured after reports of an explosion in Ashland City.
A News 2 reporter in the area said he felt an explosion Wednesday afternoon and saw rocks in the middle of the highway and in a nearby parking lot of a boat manufacturing company, Caymas Boats, on Highway 12.
A Cheatham County fire official on scene told News 2 four people were injured, but have since been treated and released.
Officials also said the roof and rear of the manufacturing facility sustained significant damage, as did some cars in the parking lot.
According Caymas Boats owner Earl Bentz, the blast nearly knocked him to the floor during a meeting with colleagues.
“I was sitting in my office having a meeting with my CFO, and the blast about knocked me out of my chair, so we got up and looked around,” he told News 2.
Fortunately, he added, most of his approximately 300 employees had already gone home for the day, and only three suffered any injuries.
“We’re very, very lucky. Some big rocks came through the ceiling,” he said. “We’ve got some damage to our building, obviously, but we can replace buildings. We can’t replace our people. We feel very blessed and very fortunate.”
There was also some damage to cars parked in the business’s parking lot, Bentz said.
“All of it’s repairable,” Bentz added. “We can fix buildings, but we can’t replace good employees.”
