Residents attend a vigil for victims of an explosion at an explosives factory, Accurate Energetic Systems, Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, in Centerville Tenn.
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Obed Lamy/AP
McEWEN, Tenn. — An explosion in rural Tennessee that destroyed an explosives factory and was felt for miles around killed 16 people and left no survivors, authorities said.
The blast left a smoldering wreck of twisted, charred metal and burned vehicles at the Accurate Energetic Systems factory, which supplies and studies explosives for the military.
The cause of the explosion is not known. Investigators are going through the cremated property foot by foot looking for possible evidence.
“There’s a whole gauntlet of emotions there,” Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said at a news conference, pausing to clear his throat before asking in a trembling voice for prayers for the victims’ families.
“We have not recovered any survivors,” he added.
At a vigil at Hurricane Chapel in McEwen, senior pastor Tim Farris noted that many people in attendance knew each other, as well as the victims and their families.
“A lot of people are hurting. A lot of people are crying a lot of tears,” he said. “We are sad that our community is going through this, but this is a wonderful opportunity for the Church to minister to many of these people today.”
Farris said he spoke Friday with some victims’ families who were shocked and numb, and they didn’t show much emotion. That had changed by Saturday, he said.
“Talking with some of the families today, they were very emotional,” Farris said. “They can barely talk or anything, they’re so emotional. I think as this continues, it’s going to hit more people. The depth of the situation, the reality of it. That’s when they’re going to need people the most.”
A person attaches a hose to a fire hydrant to fill a fuel truck after an explosion left several people dead and others missing at Accurate Energetic Systems, an explosives factory, Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, in Bucksnort, Tennessee.
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Pamela Jane Brown was among those who came to pray for their friends lost in the explosion and their families. She said a family acquaintance was driving by the factory when it exploded, and that he was “pretty hurt… all cut and bruised”, but is now recovering at home.
“I was heartbroken,” she said after learning of the outburst on social media. Meeting others to pray “was a coming together of the community – a good feeling.”
State authorities called in a “rapid DNA” team to help identify the remains of those found at the site.
Davis said about 300 responders were working in a “slow, methodical manner” to deal with explosive materials that were damaged and remain volatile. An ambulance and a helicopter used for air evacuations were mobilized to ensure the safety of first responders.
“It’s not like working on an accident. It’s not like working on a tornado. We’re dealing with explosions. And I would say right now we’re dealing with remnants,” he said.
Guy McCormick, a supervisory special agent with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said explosives specialists and bomb technicians were trying to make the area safe for ATF domestic investigators. He added that the nature of the scene could change due to the heat and pressure caused by the explosion.
Davis said it could be days, weeks or even months before foul play is ruled out.
The site is located in a heavily forested area of middle Tennessee, between the economically vital Tennessee River to the west and the bustling metropolis of Nashville to the east. Modest homes dot the wooded landscape, residences belonging to “good old country folk,” as local resident Terry Bagsby put it.
“A lot of sorrow”
Bagsby, 68, is retired but helps run the register at a gas station near the site. He said members of the close-knit community are “very, very sad.”
He said he knew people who worked at the site.
“I don’t know how to explain it. … Just a lot of grief.”
Smoke fills the air as debris covers the ground and vehicles after a powerful explosion ripped through a military explosives manufacturing plant in Hickman County, Tenn., Friday, Oct. 10, 2025.
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At an evening news conference, officials said counselors would be available Monday for grieving students.
Earlier Saturday afternoon, at McEwen Church, about 30 people gathered to pray for the blast victims and their families. Music played and the mourners bowed their heads and closed their eyes. Some knelt before an altar, placing their hands on the backs and shoulders of others. Some wept softly, amid murmured prayers.
After the vigil, Farris, the pastor, told media that the area had seen its share of tragedies and loss of life, including a deadly flood a few years ago. He asked for prayers for first responders.
“It’s physically tiring. These kinds of things take a toll on you mentally. They carry that home. They also need prayer and encouragement,” he said.
The company’s website says it processes explosives and munitions in an eight-building facility that sprawls across forested hills in the Bucksnort area, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) southwest of Nashville. It was not immediately clear how many people work at the factory or how many were present when the explosion occurred.
Accurate Energetic Systems, based in nearby McEwen, said in a social media post Friday that the company’s “thoughts and prayers” were with the affected families and community.
“We express our gratitude to all first responders who continue to work tirelessly under difficult conditions,” the message said.
An explosion wakes residents from their sleep
The company has won numerous military contracts, largely with the U.S. Army and Navy, to supply different types of munitions and explosives, according to public records. Products range from bulk explosives to landmines and small breach charges, including C4.
When the explosion occurred, residents of Lobelville, a 20-minute drive from the scene, reported feeling their homes shake, and some people filmed the loud noise of the explosion on their home cameras.
The explosion woke Gentry Stover from his sleep.
“I thought the house had collapsed with me inside,” he told the Associated Press. “I live very close to Accurate and I realized about 30 seconds after waking up that this must be it.”
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee said on the social platform
A small group gathered for a vigil Friday evening in a nearby park, holding candles while praying for the missing and their families and singing “Amazing Grace.”
The United States has a long history of fatal workplace accidents, including the Monongah coal mine explosion that killed 362 men and boys in West Virginia in 1907. Several high-profile industrial accidents in the 1960s led President Richard Nixon to sign legislation creating the Occupational Safety and Health Administration the following year.
In 2019, Accurate Energetic Systems faced several small fines from the U.S. Department of Labor for violating policies intended to protect workers from exposure to hazardous chemicals, radiation and other irritants, according to OSHA citations.
In 2014, an explosion occurred at another munitions facility in the same small community, killing one person and injuring at least three others.
