‘In an instant, they were gone’

In Bucksnort, Tennessee, residents spent a cold fall night heeding a simple message spray-painted on a concrete barrier on the side of the road: “Pray for the AES families.”

Community members gathered for a candlelight vigil outside Maple Valley Baptist Church on Saturday following the explosion at local explosives factory Accurate Energetic Systems (AES) that killed 16 people, an estimated 16 people were killed.

This community of Hickman and Humphreys counties “isn’t very big, so there’s only so many people to lose at once,” Deacon Danny Bates told about 40 attendees who consoled each other and sang hymns like “It Is Well With My Soul.”

“It was just another day at work and suddenly they were gone. We have unanswered questions.”

Sentry officer Jerri Newcombe said her friend of more than 20 years was among the victims. The two met when Newcombe’s grandson and the victim’s daughter became as close as little girls.

“They grew up together, we were in each other’s homes,” Newcombe told the BBC at the memorial service. “We celebrated birthdays together. It’s surreal because she’s gone and her babies are suffering,” he said, referring to the victim’s children and grandchildren.

Local police have not publicly identified the unidentified victims, who authorities assume were all killed.

Ms Newcombe said her friend was “full of life”. “He was the kind of person who could make you laugh at anything, but you didn’t stand up to him or he would attack you,” Ms Newcombe added, through tears and laughter, as her grandson consoled her.

Bucksnort is a close-knit town where cell phone service is spotty and a gas station adorned with a Confederate flag is the local water source. This tragedy hit the area hard as the community mourned for his family, friends, neighbors and co-workers.

The town was holding out hope for good news after Friday morning’s explosion shook area homes, blanketed the sky with smoke and drew hundreds of state and national first responders to the otherwise sleepy community tucked behind woods along a busy highway.

But after nearly two days of no sign of survivors and the blast site still rated dangerous to first responders, even the previously optimistic Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said it was time to switch to a recovery strategy rather than a rescue strategy.

Holding back tears during press conferences, Davis said, “One of these times we’re going to have to rip off the Band-Aid.” “We’re dealing with the remains.”

Hickman County Sheriff Jason Craft told the BBC on Saturday night that rapid DNA analysis was still ongoing, but after a search by 300 first responders, authorities had enough confidence in the crime scene assessment to notify families that their loved ones were likely dead.

The cause of the explosion has not yet been determined, and agents with the National Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) are continuing the investigation. ATF official Brice McCracken told the BBC it could take up to a month for federal investigators to reach the main site of the explosion.

Authorities said that the volatile nature of explosive materials also prevents emergency response, as controlled explosions are expected in the coming days to make the area safe.

Tiffany Story said her cousin and four people she knew, including someone she once babysat, were among the victims.

“Everyone knows everyone here,” an emotional Ms Story told the BBC. “It’s so comforting to have a family when everyone is so close. That’s just who we are – whether it’s [by] It’s not blood, it’s blood, this whole community is a family.”

“There will probably never be an answer,” he said of the tragedy.

Janie Brown said she also knew victims in the area. “They were loved by their family and the community,” he said outside another prayer vigil at nearby Hurricane Chapel Free Will Baptist Church in McEwen.

“This is just a sad, sad day,” he said.

Residents told the BBC that Accurate Energetic Systems (AES) employs around 80 workers, making it one of the only well-paying private jobs in the townships. For many here, the facility was known as a reliable first job for them or their close friends.

A recent job posting advertised a salary of $19 per hour for an entry-level manual labor job; this was more than double the state’s $7.25 minimum wage.

The factory faced other challenges, but none this big.

An explosion at the company killed one person in 2014, and a 2019 workplace safety audit led to relatively minor financial penalties, which the company paid, according to online records.

Residents who spoke to the BBC had mostly positive feelings towards the company, and local police said they had not received any previous reports of unsafe working conditions.

Hurricane Chapel Free Will Baptist Church Pastor Tim Ferris praised his congregation’s response to the tragedy.

“The thing about a small community is that when something like this happens, they rally around each other and draw in to be the hands and feet of Jesus, to manage these people, to care for them, to take care of them.

And that’s a great thing,” he said.