This is a recently released USCG surveillance video of the largest industrial explosion investigated in the U.S. in the last 10 years. The force was estimated to be the equivalent of one ton of TNT. Four people were killed and 14 injured, most of whom are still in the hospital after 10-14 days. I don't know how long this link will stay up, but it's something to see.

http://tinyurl.com/2k3f5m

Didn't PEPCON happen within the past 10 years? Eh... actually yeah I think that was a bit longer ago. I wish I was better with dates.

Exact same thing had come to my mind when I watched this.

PEPCON was '88.

Both of you guys are right, of course. I don't know how I could forget the PEPCON disaster. I owned stock in the parent company (still do), and followed the resulting lawsuits for years in their annual reports. I was always amused by the report that an adjacent plant that was destroyed was a marshmellow factory (supposedly). I always assumed that it was a black government facility, like the CIA's lollipop factory of the '60s.

I heard on my local Irish news that the explosion was caused by a reaction between liquid Methylcyclopentadiene and metallic sodium in a tall reaction cylinder, that was presumed to form a new fuel additive.
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4140491.html

One of the engineers killed was named Gallagher, which is an Irish name, and strangely enough one of my relatives looks identical to the Engineer Scott Gallagher who was killed.