ARKOMA, Okla. — Bomb experts continued to examine discarded artillery rounds at a scrap yard Tuesday after one of the rounds exploded on Monday as an employee tried to cut it up with a cutting torch.
The employee of Yaffe Iron and Metal Corp. was critically injured in the blast, which occurred about 1:45 p.m. Monday. He underwent surgery Monday night at Sparks Regional Medical Center in Fort Smith. Arkoma Police Chief Thomas Lenard said that as of Tuesday morning, the man, whom he would not identify, was in unstable condition.
Lenard said an Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit from Fort Sill, Okla., is heading an effort to identify and sort the more than 2,200 artillery rounds that were found at Yaffe's scrap yard at 118 Stateline Road. Assisting in the effort, he said, were the Oklahoma Highway Patrol bomb squad, the Fort Smith bomb squad and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The explosives experts were trying to determine if any of the other rounds were live, Lenard said, and none of the artillery rounds have been removed. They had been stored in the yard for the past 15 years to raise their scrap value.
He said he didn't know how long the sorting and examination would take. The scrap yard remained closed Tuesday, and officials were asking those who don't live nearby to stay away.
Officials said Monday there were about 200 rounds of 155mm or 175mm artillery shells and about 2,000 rounds of 20mm shells. On Tuesday, Lenard said, officers found more of the ordnance in the yard but didn't have an updated count.
The rounds had been rendered inert before they were released from the military, according to officials.
About 100 people who live around the scrap yard were ordered out of their homes after the explosion. Army officers who arrived in Arkoma on Monday night determined the area was safe, and the residents were allowed to return home about 8 p.m.
Lenard said he doesn't know if Yaffe is being investigated because of the explosion.