NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Debris from the space shuttle Columbia fell over Nacogdoches County Saturday morning, seconds after a huge explosion rocked windows and doors. Law enforcement personnel and National Guard reservists moved quickly to cordon off areas where debris landed as reports continued to come in Saturday morning throughout the city and county.
No injuries were reported, but at least two houses were damaged when pieces went through the roofs.
Nacogdoches police Lt. Paul Peterson was at work doing paperwork when he heard a huge rumble and vibration.
" My first impression was that it was a couple of fighter jets doing a low flyover," Peterson said. "Then the phone started ringing nonstop and people started reporting debris."
"It's everywhere," Mike Claude, with the Nacogdoches Sheriff's office, said late Saturday morning. "Right now we are trying to replace our officers with National guard members."
The explosion blew open the back doors of Commercial Bank of Texas NA, and a piece approximately 3 feet by 4 feet landed in the back parking lot.
The piece landed on the back parking lot between the bank and the Masonic Lodge. Police have cordoned off an area about 100 yards square.
"It looks like a coated aluminum pot," bank president Tommy Ellison said.
Several small pieces that perhaps broke off on impact were scattered in the lot, Ellison said.
Ruth Ann Peterson, an employee at the bank, located in downtown Nacogdoches, was driving near downtown and saw what looked like the moon. It looked like a bright light with what look to be sparklers trailing behind it moving in an east-to-northerly direction.
Nacogdoches resident John F. Anderson found a tile on his front patio, and began searching the rest of his property south of downtown. Piles of powder and other small debris were scattered across his yard and in the street in front of his house.
"What we're going to do is mark it all with a nail and some tape, and wait for word on what to do," Anderson said.
Nacogdoches police officer Rob Thorne marked off a small piece of debris in front of Anderson's home.
"The military is on its way to take over," Thorne said.
Law enforcement officers were instructed to keep people 100 yards away from the debris because of fears of contamination from the propellant. However, a number of residents picked up pieces and turned them in law enforcement officers.
Greg Sowell, community services officer for Nacogdoches Police Department, said the department is receiving calls over town and securing the areas until they receive further instructions from the federal government.
Dawn Wilson and her son were driving down a residential street when a piece nearly hit her truck.
"We didn't know what it was, so I just kept going. I called the police department when I got home, and then we came back when we heard on the radio what had happened."
Debris struck the roof of District Attorney Ed Klein's mother's house, on York Street off of Appleby Sand.
Klein said it looked like a mortar round had hit the house and that daylight was visible through at least a half-dozen holes in the cedar roof.
As of 10 a.m. Saturday, G.W. Jones, assistant administrator at Nacogdoches Memorial Hospital said that he knew of four people who had checked in for treatment - two at Memorial and two at Nacogdoches Medical Center.
"Right now, if they have touched a piece of it, we're telling them to immediately lay it down and wash their hands profusely with soap and water, then contact their physician or get to an emergency room," Jones said.
Jones said that the city had activated its emergency operations plan, but only for city personnel. Additional assistance from county or other personnel had not been requested.
Jones added that, so far, he had not received any reports of adverse
effects of handling the debris. "My thought is that NASA just doesn't want anybody touching the stuff," Jones said.
