This is a blog version of a Facebook posting from April 6, 2025.

Looking back at the Radiator Specialty Company explosion and fire in Union County, NC, on November 26, 1980, from newspaper accounts in the Charlotte News and Charlotte Observer over the next couple days.

On a Wednesday morning, just after 9 a.m., an explosion and fire caused heavy damage and injured dozens of workers at the Radiator Specialty Company chemical plant off US 74 in Indian Springs, about four miles across the Mecklenburg County line.

The explosion was caused by an apparent electrical short from a measuring scale on an assembly line. There was also a gas leak and the spark ignited the concreted fumes. It triggered a chain of four explosions.

The blast was felt up to ten miles away and the resulting fire produced a plume of heavy black smoke. Many workers ran from the building with their clothes and hair of fire.

Indian Trail, Bakers, Hemby Bridge, Unionville, Stallings, and Wesley Chapel fire departments responded, along with rescue units from both Union and Mecklenburg counites.

Stallings Assistant Fire Chief Rick Squires was one of the first firefighters to arrive at plant, a one-story brick building with 300,000 square-feet. He found flames coming from the roof and through the door. There were also 75 to 100 people running from the building.

Though flames spread quickly through the building, they were quickly extinguished after firefighters arrived. The heavy smoke, however, hampered efforts by rescuers to search the rubble for injured workers.

Some of the firefighters entered the building without breathing apparatus and were later treated for smoke inhalation.

The explosion and fire injured 56 people, including five with critical injuries who were airlifted to burn units in Charleston and Chapel Hill. The receiving facilities were:

• Union Memorial Hospital in Monroe. 40+ patients.
• Charlotte Memorial Hospital. Two patients.
• Mercy Hospital in Charlotte. Five patients.
• Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte. Five patients.
• Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, via helicopter. Three patients.
• North Carolina Memorial Hospital burn center in Chapel Hill. Two patients.

On December 10, Lora Barrino, 20, died of her burn injuries at the Medical University of South Carolina. On December 11, Dorothy Graham, 28, died of her injuries at North Carolina Memorial Hospital in Chapel Hill.

The explosion apparently occurred near the rear of the building, where brake fluid and other petroleum products were being processed by about 150 workers. The force of the explosion created a huge hole in the roof and cracked the walls. But safety features in the building likely prevented more damage and casualties.

The area of the explosion was comprised of four “blowout rooms,” which were areas built with concrete walls and “blow-away roofs” so any explosion would spread fire upward and through the roof and not laterally through the building.

The Charlotte-based company was started in 1924. It ceased manufacturing operations in 2019 and sought disillusion in 2020.

Sources

See this Google Drive folder of news clippings.