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{{Short description|1983 industrial disaster in Benton, Tennessee, United States}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2023}}
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{{Infobox event
| title                    = Benton fireworks disaster
| image                    = File:Benton tn fireworks explosion damages.png
| image_size               = 225
| caption                  = Debris scattered near the site and damage to nearby cars
| date                     = {{start date|1983|5|27}} 
| time                     = {{circa}} 9:15 AM ([[Eastern Time Zone|EDT]])
| place                    = 1278 Welcome Valley Road, [[Benton, Tennessee]]
| coordinates              = {{coord|35|8|42|N|84|39|50|W|region:US-TN_type:event|display=inline,title}}
| also known as            = Polk County fireworks disaster
| cause                    = Undetermined 
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| outcome                  = 
| reported deaths          = 11
| reported injuries        = 1
| reported missing         = 
| reported property damage = 
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| accused                  = 
| convicted                = 21
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The '''Benton fireworks disaster''' was an [[industrial disaster]] that occurred on May 27, 1983, on a farm near [[Benton, Tennessee]]. A powerful explosion at an unlicensed [[fireworks]] factory producing illegal fireworks killed eleven and injured one, revealing the existence of the factory for the first time to law enforcement and the public. The initial explosion was heard more than {{cvt|20|mi}} away.

The event gained national attention, covered by multiple media outlets, and triggered a two-year federal investigation that eventually led to the conviction of 21 people including the owner of the factory, a man who was considered to be the mastermind, and several others from multiple states who conspired to manufacture, transport, and/or allow the fireworks manufactured at the operation to be transported. Investigators determined the factory to have been the largest and most profitable known illegal fireworks operation in US history.<ref name=bass/><ref name=upi/> The disaster was the deadliest event in US history involving illegal fireworks.<ref>{{cite news|last=Neus|first=Elizabeth|date=May 22, 1985|title=Police arrested four men Wednesday and charged them
|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1985/05/22/Police-arrested-four-men-Wednesday-and-charged-them-with/7699485582400/ |publisher=United Press International |access-date=June 23, 2020}}</ref>

==Background==
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Webb's bait farm.png|225px|thumb|left|Sign at the entrance to Webb's Bait Farm, the site of the illegal fireworks factory.{{ffdc|1=Webb's bait farm.png|log=2017 December 8}}]] -->

Webb's Bait Farm, located along Welcome Valley Road near an intersection with Reynolds Bridge Road and Pankey Lane in rural [[Polk County, Tennessee|Polk County]] about {{convert|2|mi|km}} south of Benton, grew and manufactured worms and other [[fishing bait]] and sold fishing equipment.<ref name="associated"/> It had been in operation since 1978 and was owned by Dan Lee Webb, aged 30 at the time of the disaster.<ref name=wdef/> In addition to the farm, Webb also owned a [[masonry]] business.<ref name=haberman2/>

In December 1982, Webb, relative David Parks, and Howard Emmett Bramblett of nearby [[Ocoee, Tennessee|Ocoee]] began manufacturing [[M-80 (explosive)|M-80]] and [[M-100 (explosive)|M-100]] fireworks, which are banned by federal laws, in an old metal dairy barn on the farm.<ref name="associated">{{cite news|last=George|first=Dan|date=August 28, 1985|title=20 Indicted on Fireworks Charges|url=https://apnews.com/2ba7a215402728466a6803769e164ccb|work=Associated Press News|access-date=April 19, 2014|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729084437/https://apnews.com/2ba7a215402728466a6803769e164ccb|archivedate=July 29, 2020}}</ref> Bramblett, who owned a fireworks store in Benton and was an acquaintance of Webb, suggested that Webb begin the operation to combat financial problems.<ref name=haberman2>{{cite news|last=Haberman|first=Margaret|date=June 19, 1986|title=Fireworks factory owner cites beginning|url=https://tennessean.newspapers.com/clip/56744890/fireworks-factory-owner-cites-beginning/|page=2B|work=The Tennessean|agency=Associated Press|access-date=August 28, 2020|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> He reportedly taught Webb and Parks how to manufacture these fireworks, and connected them with  suppliers of materials and distributors in multiple states.<ref name=news9>{{cite AV media |date=May 29, 1983 |title=WTVC News Channel 9 Transcript from May 29, 1983 |access-date=<!--November 4, 2017--> |location=Chattanooga, Tennessee|publisher=[[WTVC]] News Channel 9}}</ref> He was considered by authorities to be the mastermind of the operation.<ref name=news9/> Each fireworks case, which contained 1,440 individual fireworks, was sold for $160 ({{Inflation|US|160|1983|fmt=eq}}), with Bramblett, who was responsible for selling the fireworks, and John Franklin Miller, an Ohio fireworks manufacturer who was the primary supplier of materials and was responsible for soliciting customers, each receiving $10 ({{Inflation|US|10|1983|fmt=eq}}).<ref name=appeal>{{cite court|litigants=United States of America v. Weigelt, Bramblett, and Schroeder|vol=825|reporter=F.2d|opinion=412|court=6th Cir.|date=August 4, 1987|url=https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/825/412/450266/|access-date=June 3, 2020}}</ref><ref name=haberman2/> Both men had a history of involvement with illegal fireworks, and had helped start other unlawful fireworks manufacturing operations, some of which exploded and killed workers.<ref name=chicago86/><ref name=appeal/> The factory employed several people, all of whom were reportedly related to Webb by blood or marriage and were out of work or underemployed at the time.<ref name="associated"/>

The two-story {{convert|40|x|70|ft|adj=on}} barn that housed the factory consisted of a chemical mixing room on the first floor and an assembly room on the second floor.<ref name=upi5292/> A former employee, whose mother and daughter were killed in the blast, stated that they were paid five dollars an hour ({{Inflation|US|5|1983|fmt=eq}}) in cash.<ref name=upi>{{cite news |date=June 27, 1983|title=An employee of an illegal fireworks factory that blew|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/06/27/An-employee-of-an-illegal-fireworks-factory-that-blew/7156425534400/|work=[[United Press International]]|access-date=November 13, 2017}}</ref> Other relatives of the victims stated that the explosives were usually mixed by hand.<ref name=upi/> Most employees were not aware of the dangers involved, and were not educated in safe working conditions.<ref name=bass/> Between December 1982 and the date of the explosion, a total of 1,542,880 M-series fireworks were reported to have been manufactured at the factory and distributed to at least twelve states.<ref name=chicago86/> The factory was determined to have accumulated a profit of about $1.25 million (equivalent to ${{formatprice|{{inflation|US|1250000|1983}}}} in {{inflation-year|US-GDP}}{{inflation-fn|US-GDP}}) during its operation.<ref name=upi/> At its peak, the factory ran a minimum of six days a week, employed between 12 and 14 people, and produced between 100 and 130 cases of fireworks a week.<ref name=appeal/><ref name=haberman2/> At some point in the months prior to the explosion, the Polk County Sheriff's Office, [[Tennessee Bureau of Investigation]] (TBI), and the [[Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms]] (ATF) had received word of an illegal fireworks manufacturing operation in the area, but were uncertain of the location.<ref name=wdef>{{cite AV media |date=May 27, 1983 |title=Illegal Fireworks Factory Explodes Killing 11 People |access-date=<!--November 4, 2017--> |type=Visual media|location=Chattanooga, Tennessee |publisher=[[WDEF-TV|WDEF]] News 12 }}</ref>

==Explosion and response ==
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Benton fireworks debris.png|225px|thumb|right|Debris from the explosion scattered near the house.{{ffdc|1=Benton fireworks debris.png|log=2017 December 8}}]] -->
On May 27, 1983, at approximately 9:15 AM, eleven workers were on duty when a cache of M-80 and M-100 explosives, [[flash powder]], and other chemicals in the barn detonated, producing a powerful explosion and instantly killing all eleven workers and leveling the barn.<ref name=woods>{{cite news|last=Woods|first=Jeff|title=An unlicensed fireworks factory exploded on a farm today
|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/05/27/An-unlicensed-fireworks-factory-exploded-on-a-farm-today/3585422856000/|publisher=United Press International |date=May 27, 1983|access-date=April 15, 2014}}</ref> The initial blast was followed over the next several minutes by several smaller blasts which witnesses described as sounding like [[shotgun]]s, believed to have been from individual firework cases which were not detonated initially.<ref name=woods/> Dan Lee Webb's cousin Tommy Webb, who was mowing the grass near the site, was reported to have been thrown more than {{Convert|70|yd|m ft}}.<ref name=woods2>{{cite news|last=Woods|first=Jeff|date=May 28, 1983|title=The size of the explosives that blew up in|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/05/28/The-size-of-the-explosives-that-blew-up-in/9629422942400/|publisher=United Press International |access-date=September 3, 2020}}</ref> The blast also threw debris as far as {{Convert|200|yd|m ft}} from the site, and produced a shock wave that leveled trees as far as {{Convert|100|yd|m ft}} away.<ref name=bass/> The force of the blast shattered windows in several homes and other structures on nearby properties, which reportedly resulted in some neighbors receiving minor cut wounds.<ref name=news9/> Parts of bodies were hurled through the roofs of the nearby house and carport and as far away as {{convert|500|ft|m yd}} from the site.<ref name=bass/> Nothing in the barn was left intact; all of the bodies had lost limbs and six were [[decapitation|decapitated]].<ref name=woods2/> Some were stripped by the force of the blast.<ref name=woods/>

Several witnesses claimed to have seen a white [[mushroom cloud]] which was estimated to be {{convert|600|to|800|feet|m}} tall, and the blast was heard and felt in [[Cleveland, Tennessee|Cleveland]] over {{convert|20|miles|km}} away.<ref name=woods/> Several 911 calls were received moments after the initial blast, and within minutes, several police units arrived at the scene. Webb's wife Linda Sue, who was in the house at the time, fled before deputies arrived.<ref name=upi/> Tommy Webb, who was critically injured, was taken to [[Erlanger Hospital|Erlanger Medical Center]] in [[Chattanooga, Tennessee|Chattanooga]] with burns to about 35 percent of his body.<ref name=woods/> Crews from the ATF and TBI arrived later to investigate the cause of the explosion.<ref name=bass/> A [[Tennessee Emergency Management Agency]] (TEMA) crew, which included [[Forensic anthropology|forensic anthropologist]] [[William M. Bass]] of the [[University of Tennessee]] in [[Knoxville, Tennessee|Knoxville]], later arrived on the scene to identify the victims.<ref name=bass/>

==Investigation==

Authorities were unable to determine the exact cause of the explosion, but concluded that it probably occurred as a result of explosives being mixed. The charred remains of an [[electric drill]] with a [[paint]]-stirring attachment were found, and the prevailing theory of the cause was that a spark from the drill's motor reached the mixture.<ref name=bass>{{cite book |last1=Jefferson |first1=Jon|last2=Bass|first2=William|date=September 4, 2007 |title=Beyond The Body Farm: A Legendary Bone Detective Explores Murders, Mysteries, and the Revolution in Forensic Science |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zDTGENPVTs4C |publisher=Harper Collins |pages=67–86 |isbn=978-0060875282|via=Google Books}}</ref> Investigators concluded that other possible causes could have been sparking from an electrical wire, light fixture, or other appliance found at the site; and the scraping of boots on the floor.<ref name="Spokesman"/> A [[lighter|cigarette lighter]] and three packs of cigarettes were also found at the site, which investigators determined could have caused the ignition of highly explosive vapors that were byproducts of the manufacturing process.<ref name=upi/> ATF agents estimated that approximately {{convert|300|lbs|kg}} of explosives were detonated in the blast.<ref name=profits>{{cite news|last=Dye|first=Mike|date=June 3, 1983|title=Polk explosives made profit of million-plus|pages=1, 13|work=Cleveland Daily Banner}}</ref> TEMA later identified the dead as Faye Trentham (38), daughter Tanya Trentham (19), Doris Burns Longmire (29), David Nelce Webb (22, brother of Dan Lee Webb), Sybil Duggan (34), William Lee Burns (38), Beatrice Webb (51, mother of Dan Lee Webb), Dixie Freeman (21), David Parks (38) and his wife Judy (36), and Albert Kenneth Johnson (53, uncle of Dan Lee Webb).<ref name="Spokesman">{{cite news|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|title=Fireworks suspect charged with deaths|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19830530&id=5O0vAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2-4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6978,8211234|page=3|work=[[The Spokesman-Review]]|location=Spokane, Washington|agency=Associated Press|date=May 30, 1983|access-date=April 19, 2014|via=Google News}}</ref><ref name=cincinnati>{{cite news|date=May 31, 1983|title=Victims of Explosion Buried|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/56525237/the-cincinnati-enquirer/|page=C-4|work=[[The Cincinnati Enquirer]]|agency=Associated Press|access-date=November 21, 2017|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

Authorities found a cache of 172 boxes of unexploded fireworks worth about $20,000<ref name=woods2/> ({{Inflation|US|20000|1983|fmt=eq}}) and estimated to weigh more than {{convert|2,500|lbs|kg}} and six 55-gallon (200-liter) steel drums full of chemical explosives in a nearby trailer.<ref>{{cite news|last=Dye|first=Mike|date=May 29, 1983|title=Polk explosion death toll now stands at 11|pages=1, 12|work=Cleveland Daily Banner}}</ref><ref name="Register-Guard">{{cite news|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|title=Death toll hits 11 at fireworks plant|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1310&dat=19830528&id=ug1WAAAAIBAJ&sjid=MOIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6632,6805836|page=14C|work=[[The Register-Guard|Eugene Register-Guard]]|agency=United Press International|date=May 28, 1983|access-date=May 27, 2014|via=Google News}}</ref> Federal firearms agents also found a firework case {{convert|8|to|10|inches|cm|sigfig=1|spell=on}} in length and {{convert|3|to|4|inches|cm|sigfig=1|spell=on}} in diameter which, due to the large size, prompted Polk County deputies to speculate that some of the explosives were being purchased by people with criminal intents, such as [[terrorism|terrorists]].<ref name=woods2/> The undetonated explosives found were buried in the ground on the farm and later detonated in an open pit in nearby [[Copperhill, Tennessee|Copperhill]] having been used as evidence in Webb's trial.<ref name="Victoria Advocate"/> The farm was also found to be guarded by an elaborate security system which consisted of [[surveillance camera]]s, [[electric fence]]s, [[alarm device|alarm]]s, [[guard dog]]s, and warning signs.<ref name="Spokesman" /> Polk County Sheriff Frank Payne told reporters that he thought that they were gearing up for the [[Independence Day (United States)|Fourth of July]].<ref name="Spokesman" />

Polk County police and multiple media outlets interviewed several people living near the farm. One man, who did not know about the fireworks operation, stated that he had wondered how the farm employed as many people as they did raising worms.<ref>{{cite news|last=Jones|first=Kenley|date=May 27, 1983|title=Huge Explosion Reveals Illegal Fireworks Factory in Tennessee (Transcript)|url=https://archives.nbclearn.com/portal/site/k-12/flatview?cuecard=5499|work=NBC Nightly News|location=New York City|access-date=June 2, 2020}}</ref> One neighbor said that the blast shattered his windows and blew [[sheetrock]] off his ceiling.<ref name="Victoria Advocate"/> He had been told three months before by the Webbs that they did not want his children to go near the barn.<ref name="Victoria Advocate">{{cite news|last=Powell|first=Paul|title=Explosion Kills 11; Illegal Fireworks at Bait Farm|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=861&dat=19830527&id=9cgbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-1cEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6430,6784630|page=1C|work=[[The Victoria Advocate]]|location=Victoria, Texas|agency=Associated Press|date=May 28, 1983|access-date=May 27, 2014|via=Google News}}</ref> Another neighbor said that he had heard one large blast followed by several smaller blasts over the course of about 20 minutes.<ref name="Victoria Advocate"/> The initial blast shattered glass in his living room.<ref name="Victoria Advocate"/> Sheriff Payne, a [[Vietnam War]] veteran, said that he "hadn't seen anything like this since Vietnam," and equated the explosion to a direct hit from a powerful bomb.<ref name=upi/> Many of the friends and relatives of the victims interviewed stated that they did not know about the operation and were surprised to learn of it.<ref name=upi5292/><ref name=wdef/>

== Aftermath ==
Dan Lee Webb, who had been in [[Lansing, Illinois]], delivering 86,400 M-80s during the event, surrendered at the Polk County Jail two days later.<ref name=chicago86/><ref name=upi5291>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|title=Owner of illegal fireworks factory surrenders|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/05/29/Owner-of-illegal-fireworks-factory-surrenders/2638423028800/|publisher=United Press International |date=May 29, 1983|access-date=February 15, 2018}}</ref> He was charged with eleven counts of [[involuntary manslaughter|involuntary]] [[manslaughter]] and illegally manufacturing and possessing explosives and jailed with a $300,000 ({{Inflation|US|300000|1983|fmt=eq}}) bond.<ref name=upi5292>{{cite news|last=Woods |first=Jeff|date=May 29, 1983|title=The owner of an illegal fireworks factory that blew up|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/05/29/The-owner-of-an-illegal-fireworks-factory-that-blew/7953423028800/|publisher=United Press International |access-date=February 15, 2018}}</ref> Linda Sue Webb was held on $50,000 ({{Inflation|US|50000|1983|fmt=eq}}) bail as a [[material witness]] in order to ensure her appearance in court.<ref name=upi5292/><ref name="Spokesman"/> She told her defense attorney that she believed that her husband was in the [[New York (state)|New York–]] [[New Jersey]] area at the time of the blast.<ref name=upi5292/> Webb's brother Larry was also held as a material witness with a $50,000 ({{Inflation|US|50000|1983|fmt=eq}}) bond, but released shortly thereafter.<ref name=upi5292/> On April 19, 1984, Dan Lee Webb received a ten-year federal prison sentence for manufacturing explosives without a license.<ref name=nyt/> On May 1, 1984, he pleaded guilty to the manslaughter charges and received a ten-year prison sentence.<ref name=nyt/> He served it concurrently with the federal sentence and in addition was fined $10,000 ({{Inflation|US|10000|1984|fmt=eq}}).<ref name=nyt>{{cite news|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|title=Around The Nation; Tennessee Man Pleads Guilty in Fireworks Blast|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/05/01/us/around-the-nation-tennessee-man-pleads-guilty-in-fireworks-blast.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|agency=Associated Press|date=May 1, 1984|access-date=April 19, 2014}}</ref>

Bramblett was arrested two days later in nearby [[Chatsworth, Georgia]], after cases of M-80 fireworks were found in two locations in [[Murray County, Georgia|Murray County]]. He was extradited to the Polk County Jail.<ref name=news9/> A federal court jury convicted him and another man on May 3, 1984, of one count of manufacturing illegal fireworks, one of conspiracy, and one of storing the homemade explosives. He was sentenced to ten years in prison on July 2, 1984, for his role in a similar incident that occurred on May 24, 1983, in [[Rowesville, South Carolina]], in which an explosion at an illegal fireworks operation killed two and injured five.<ref name=Spartanburg>{{cite news|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|title=Defendants Get Prison Terms In Fireworks Explosion|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1876&dat=19840704&id=gDwsAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cM4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6865,1474281|page=D4|work=[[Spartanburg Herald-Journal]]|agency=Associated Press|date=July 4, 1984|access-date=April 19, 2014|via=Google News}}</ref>

On August 27, 1985, twenty people from nine different states, including Bramblett and Miller, were indicted on federal charges for conspiring to supply materials, manufacture, sell, and distribute the illegal fireworks made at the farm to as many as twelve states including Tennessee, [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], [[North Carolina]], [[South Carolina]], [[Illinois]], [[Michigan]], [[Indiana]], [[Ohio]], [[Pennsylvania]], and New York.<ref name=chicago>{{cite news|last=O'Brien|first=John|date=August 29, 1985|title=20 Charged In Plot To Deal In Fireworks|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1985-08-29-8502260548-story.html|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|access-date=April 15, 2014}}</ref> Some of these people were also charged with transporting the fireworks or causing them to be transported.<ref name="associated"/> On June 25, 1986, Bramblett, Miller, and two of the others charged were found guilty by a federal jury of conspiracy in the operation.<ref name=chicago86>{{cite news|last=O'Brien|first=John|date=July 4, 1986|title=Trials Muffling Thunder Of 4th|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-07-04-8602170575-story.html|work=Chicago Tribune|access-date=November 21, 2017}}</ref> The sixteen others pled guilty.<ref>{{cite news|last=Haberman|first=Margaret|date=June 26, 1986|title=Four Defendants Convicted in Fireworks Trial|url=https://apnews.com/article/810207d6a194827aa81106e12530a2c4|work=Associated Press|access-date=November 13, 2020|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20201113182748/https://apnews.com/article/810207d6a194827aa81106e12530a2c4|archivedate=November 13, 2020}}</ref> A few weeks later on July 7, a U.S. District Court Judge handed Bramblett a ten-year sentence for one count of participating in the illegal manufacture of explosives, concurrent ten-year terms for fifteen counts of causing illegal fireworks to be transported across state lines, and one count of illegally dealing in explosives.<ref name=haberman1>{{cite news|last=Haberman|first=Margaret|date=July 7, 1986|title=Bramblett Sentenced to 10 Years in Fireworks Factory Case|url=https://apnews.com/cbc5e98e786ec89044e96801b302ff4c|work=Associated Press|access-date=June 23, 2020|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20200627041110/https://apnews.com/cbc5e98e786ec89044e96801b302ff4c|archivedate=June 27, 2020}}</ref> He served them concurrently with his 1984 sentence.<ref name=index>{{cite news|date=July 8, 1986|title=Man gets 10 years in fireworks factory case|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/56525316/man-gets-10-years-in-fireworks-factory/|page=17|work=The Index-Journal|location=[[Greenville, South Carolina]]|agency=Associated Press|access-date=November 21, 2017|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

A chapter of American author [[Jon Jefferson]]'s 2007 non-fiction book ''[[Beyond the Body Farm]]'', coauthored with Bass, is about Bass' investigation of the event.<ref name=bass/> A segment about the event is also included in ''Tennessee Tragedies: Natural, Technological, and Societal Disasters in the Volunteer State'', a 2012 book by former TEMA official Allen R. Coggins.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kennedy|first=Mark|date=January 22, 2012|title=Kennedy: Tragic moments in state's history|url=https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/life/entertainment/story/2012/jan/22/0122e-tragic-moments-in-states-history/68758/|work=[[Chattanooga Times Free Press]]|access-date=June 3, 2020}}</ref> A chapter about the disaster is included in historian Dewaine A. Speaks' 2019 book ''Historic Disasters of East Tennessee.''<ref>{{cite news|last=Swiger|first=Gwen|date=July 31, 2019|title=Tragedies revisited in 'Historic Disasters of East Tennessee'|url=https://clevelandbanner.com/stories/tragedies-revisited-in-historic-disasters-of-east-tennessee,101330|work=[[Cleveland Daily Banner]]|access-date=June 3, 2020|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603050048/https://clevelandbanner.com/stories/tragedies-revisited-in-historic-disasters-of-east-tennessee,101330|archivedate=June 3, 2020}}</ref> The land is now occupied by a rafting company by the name of Big Frog Expeditions.<ref>{{Citation|year=1990|title=Big Frog Expeditions|publisher=Polk County Register of Deeds|location=Benton, Tennessee|pages=126–130|access-date=<!--December 7, 2017-->}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of explosions]]
* [[List of industrial disasters]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7wVnItXe28 Illegal Fireworks Factory Explodes killing 11 people] at YouTube - [[WDEF-TV|WDEF News 12]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071013174923/http://www.jeffersonbass.com/excerpt_beyond_the_body_farm.html The Rockets' Red Glare, Bodies Bursting in Air: Dealing with a Mass Disaster] - transcript from ''Beyond the Body Farm''

{{Fireworks accidents and incidents}}

[[Category:1983 crimes in the United States]]
[[Category:1983 fires in the United States]]
[[Category:1983 in Tennessee]]
[[Category:1983 industrial disasters]]
[[Category:Crimes in Tennessee]]
[[Category:Disasters in Tennessee]]
[[Category:Explosions in 1983]]
[[Category:Fires in Tennessee]]
[[Category:Fireworks accidents and incidents]]
[[Category:Illegal fireworks operations]]
[[Category:Industrial fires and explosions in the United States]]
[[Category:May 1983 events in the United States]]
[[Category:Polk County, Tennessee]]