AP News, December 9th, 2007
Explosions ripped through a fireworks factory in eastern Australia, destroying 20 buildings in the complex and jeopardizing New Year's Eve displays in three state capitals, officials said Sunday.
No workers were inside the factory during the overnight explosions, but police were investigating whether someone broke in and tampered with shipping containers used to store the fireworks, said police Superintendent Greg Martin.
Authorities entered the Howard and Sons Fireworks factory Sunday morning to investigate the cause of the blasts and determine whether anyone had been inside.
"I can tell you there were no people legitimately on the site when the explosion occurred," he told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.
The explosions started in one of the shipping containers, and there was evidence that others had been tampered with, Martin said.
At least 10 homes in Wallerawang, 100 miles north of Sydney, were temporarily evacuated, said Rebel Talbert, a spokeswoman for New South Wales state Rural Fire Service.
Factory owner Andrew Howard said 20 buildings were razed and 30 others were damaged. Plans for New Year's Eve fireworks displays in Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide were in doubt, he said.
He said the fireworks were of a professional standard, meaning they are not considered unstable. They "really require ignition or an ignition source, or a fire or sparks of some nature, to set them off," he said.
The company says it put on pyrotechnics displays at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Commonwealth Games last year and the 2002 soccer World Cup in Korea.
