Deputies hunt for cause of morning blast
By Nick Hiltunen
Published in News on March 17, 2010 1:46 PM
Law enforcement authorities are citing "unnatural causes" for the explosion of a shed sometime around midnight on Northeast Church Road just north of Mount Olive.
The shed was on property owned by Joseph Arnette, 44, at 684 Northeast Church Road, according to a Sheriff's Office report.
Authorities said they had no evidence to believe methamphetamine production was the cause, but the officer who investigates meth labs has been assigned to investigate.
"All I can say for sure right now is that it (the explosion) happened under suspicious circumstances," Sheriff's Office Capt. Tom Effler said this morning.
Mount Olive and Indian Springs firefighters responded to the explosion. Several firefighters were taken to Wayne Memorial Hospital as a precaution after inhaling fumes from the fire.
Mount Olive firefighter Michael Williams said that all of the firefighters who were treated were released within 45 minutes of being seen.
"Several of them went, but they were all wearing air packs, so it was just a precautionary measure," he said.