WILMINGTON UNIVERSITY
Imperial Sugar
Company Explosion
Reaction Paper 1
Sarah Elizabeth McCloskey
In February of 2008, Imperial Sugar Company su*ered an
unthinkable tragedy. According to reports, fourteen people were killed and
many were injured after an explosion occurred at the re2nery due to unsafe
procedures. This crisis shocked the community, both emotionally and
financially (Chatham Emergency).
However, even before the explosion occurred, the company was not
doing well with finance. In order to overcome their large money problems,
the Imperial Sugar Company decided to 2le for bankruptcy and sell a portion
of their company, Hormel. This decision gave the employees and the
surrounding local economy a chance. A few years later, the company
celebrated their 90th anniversary (Savannah Now).
Then, a year later, on February 7th at approximately 7:00pm, Fort
Wentworth, Georgia, a small industrial town outside of Savannah, underwent
their first signiticant crisis in years. Citizens across the town could feel their
homes shake as the re2nery went up in ;ames. Emergency teams were sent
in, eventually finding eight bodies while many others were sent to the
hospital with serious injuries. By February 26th, the body count from the
explosion turned to twelve.
Initially responding publically was a female member of the police
department, on local television, who let the town know that there were
command posts for law enforcement, family members and for also, treating
minor triage on cite. She also reassured the public that there are ongoing
effort and life-saving rescues still happening. In addition, council members
from Fort Wentworth government and US Coast Guard responded to
