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2025 Tennessee manufacturing plant explosion
Explosion in the United States From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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On October 10, 2025, an explosion occurred at an Accurate Energetic Systems manufacturing plant in Humphreys County, Tennessee, United States, causing 16 fatalities and at least four injuries. The facility, located near Bucksnort, was used in the manufacture, storage, and research of high explosives for the Department of Defense and various other customers.
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Background
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Perspective
Accurate Energetic Systems (AES) is a company established in 1980 that conducts research on and manufactures explosives, including demolition charges and high explosives.[1] Their customers include aerospace, oil, and commercial demolition companies.[2] The company had contracts with the Department of Defense for the manufacture of explosives.[3][4] For instance, the Department of Defense awarded AES a contract for $120 million for "the procurement of TNT" on September 23, 2025.[5][6] They employed approximately 75 people prior to the explosion.[7]
The facility impacted was located in Humphreys County, Tennessee, near the border with Hickman County, Tennessee.[3] The plant takes up 1,300 acres (530 ha) of land near Bucksnort spring. Across eight buildings of the facility, explosives are manufactured, stored, researched, and tested.[2] The explosives manufactured included C-4 and TNT.[7]
In 2014, an explosion considerably damaged an Accurate Energetic Systems manufacturing plant in McEwen, Humphreys County, killing one and injuring three of about 20 employees in the building.[8] After the 2025 explosion, the mayor of Hickman County reported that the facility had no safety issues of record, noting, however, that there had been an earlier explosion at an AES facility in 2014.[9] That explosion was not attributed to AES, but rather to a separate company, American Sporting Supplies, which had leased a building on the AES site (according to reporting from a local news affiliate, based on a statement from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development).[10] There had also been a partial inspection of the McEwen plant in 2019 by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration found multiple violations of health and safety procedures in the plant.[11]
The president of the company is John Sonday.[12][13] According to an archived version of the company's website, AES holds two certifications: It is certified as a Women-Owned Small Business by the SBA, and as a Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE) by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC).[14]
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Explosion
On October 10, 2025, at 7:48 a.m. Central Daylight Time, a large explosion destroyed a building at the Accurate Energetic Systems campus.[15] The plume of smoke from the explosion was so large that the WSMV-TV First Alert Weather radar detected it.[16] Helicopter video showed damaged vehicles and charred debris.[17] Doorbell footage up to 20 mi (32 km) from the facility captured the sound of the explosion and the shaking of the camera. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Department of Homeland Security, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)[18][19] were among the agencies that responded to the explosion. Emergency responders were initially unable to reach the site due to continuing explosions.[20] Sixteen people inside the building were killed in the explosion,[21][6] and four or five were injured.[22]
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Aftermath
Following the explosion, Accurate Energetic Systems stopped operations[23] and Meriwether Lewis Electric Cooperative, the local energy provider, was working to restore power.[24][25]
Investigation
The sheriff of Humphreys County said during a press briefing on the day of the explosion that they had "a very big investigation" to conduct, noting it could take months to rule out foul play.[19][26]
Investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) joined the effort to determine the cause of the explosion.[27]
References
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