Rossi Explosion October 24 1989
It was a Tuesday. I think Tommy was in school. I don't know if Tom was at work or if he was working nights by then and was home asleep. What I do recall was hearing the noise first. I knew it was something big but I didn't know what. It sounded like a bomb going off.
Everything shook. I didn't even think it might be a quake. I rushed out on the porch without my shoes on, and looked towards the other side of the street. I think that was to the east. I'm not good on directions. A big cloud of black smoke was pouring into the sky above the houses and trees but it was still far away.
I knew Tommy was safe for now because his school was to the South. I had to see what it was and find out if it was headed our way. If it was I'd find a way to get to my kid and try to save him.
We didn't hear much about terrorists in the news yet. They were out there but not in this little town. I was still scared of whatever it was. The forces of nature alone could be scary but fire was a natural enemy.
I started walking fast, bare feet included. I crossed the road. There wasn't a car in sight but I saw people looking out their windows and standing in driveways and yards. Nobody had any clue what was happening.
The sidewalks were smooth here so being bare foot wasn't much of a problem unless I got into the danger of whatever it was. At that point, I just wanted to know what it was so I'd know what I needed to do. I kept walking down the street.
The smoke got thicker and I could hear sirens now. Somebody came towards me through the smoke and told me to go back the way I came. There was too much smoke. The woman told me there was a house on fire several blocks away but the wind was blowing the smoke our way.
I knew then it was just a house fire. Later I would learn it was so much more. At that time, I just knew Tommy would be nowhere near it and he would be safe at school. I walked fast back home, just then realizing I'd left it unlocked and I was then aware of my bare feet.
At home there was a crack in the bricks in the front base of the porch. That was weird. I went inside to turn on the radio. The radio was the main source of local news. The TV would have State news and news from Ashtabula and Erie but if you wanted up to the minute local news, you turned on the radio.
I was just hearing about the house exploding when my neighbor Bubbles Plott came over. Her real name is Arlene but everybody called her Bubbles from the day she was born.
She was all excited. She said they were going down to Big Wheel to do some shopping. One minute they were driving down the road when they heard the explosion. Bubbles said the car lifted right up off the road and then bounced back down. They didn't know what it was either. They drove faster a little farther and were stopped by emergency people who told them to turn around. They couldn't go any farther.
We listened to the news until it was time for me to go meet Tommy at school. I think he was in kindergarten that year but maybe it was first grade. If he was in first grade that year he would have been there all day but other wise it was only a half day.
It was all over the news for several weeks. There was a lot of speculation and a lot of it seemed to be true.
Rossi was manufacturing illegal fireworks in either his garage or the basement. Making fireworks is a dangerous business even in a factory but in an unregulated environment and accident of this magnitude was bound to happen. I don't know if they ever figured it all out or if they had much proof of how it all happened.
Rossi was dead. His house and at least one other had gone up either in the explosion or the fire. June Riddle who lived in the house next door died in the explosion.
It was said that part of a freezer was found with bundles of money wrapped up in foil. It was also said that parts of exploded grenades were found in the wreckage. Speculation ran wild that the mob was involved. Maybe because of the nature of the business but it didn't help that he had an Italian name.
An enormous amount of damage was done for miles from the center of it all. Windows broke, foundations were damaged. People were in shock. Some had hearing problems from the explosion. Most were terrified that something like that could happen in their town. Those were the ones who kept their heads in the clouds and didn't notice all the crime around them.
I saved some newspapers from back then. I don't know how I managed to keep them. Maybe I sent copies to Mom.
I scanned in what I could and I'm going to put what I have here.
For months there was not a sheet of plywood to be found in the town except covering a window.