[meteorite-list] Body Remains Found In Hemphill, Texas

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:18:24 2004
Message-ID: <200302012340.PAA27469_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/breaking_news/5083301.htm

Shuttle Debris Found in Texas, Louisiana
PAM EASTON
Associated Press
February 1, 2003

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Debris rained down Saturday over hundreds of square
miles of Texas and Louisiana, smashing a rooftop, splashing into a reservoir
and sending emergency crews on a far-flung hunt for bits of what was once
space shuttle Columbia.

Across the city of Nacogdoches and the surrounding region of pine forest,
residents found chunks of debris. A small tank rested on a runway. A steel
rod with silver bolts was roped off behind yellow police tape in a yard. A
piece of metal rested in a bank parking lot.

Authorities urged the public to report any debris but not touch it for fear
of contamination from toxic substances. The Army sent in helicopters and
soldiers to locate and guard bits of wreckage, which could be pivotal in
determining the cause of the disaster.

In Hemphill, near the Louisiana state line, hospital employee Mike Gibbs
reported finding what appeared to be a charred torso, thigh bone and skull
on a rural road near what was believed to be other debris. Billy Smith, a
Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman, confirmed the find.

The Columbia broke apart in flames 200,000 feet over Texas, killing all
seven astronauts just minutes before they were to glide to a landing in
Florida.

Debris has been tracked in a 500-square-mile area but could be spread over
a region three times that, said James Crow, director of the Emergency
Geospacial Mapping Center at Stephen F. Austin State University in
Nacogdoches.

As authorities rushed to secure pieces of the shuttle, residents gathered
to get a glimpse.

"Everybody's treating this like it's an alien crash," said Phillip Russell, 17.

Jim Stutzman of Nacogdoches - 135 miles northeast of Houston - found a
9-inch long, 2-inch wide piece of metal in his yard. "It has heat burns,
melted metal and some of the grass burned into it when it fell," he said.

Jeff Hancock, a 29-year-old dentist, said a foot-long metal bracket smashed
through the roof of his office.

"It's all over," said James Milford, owner of Milford Barber shop in
downtown Nacogdoches. "There are several little pieces, some parts of
machinery."

Dozens of residents gathered in front of Rice High School, about 40 miles
southeast of Dallas, to look at what appeared to be a charred piece of
tile from the space shuttle. The area around the piece was blocked off
with tape.

"It's just kind of an event that doesn't happen every day," said Rhonda
Martin, 32, of Kemp. "It's going to go down in history." Martin held her
toddler son while her husband took photos.

Behind a bank in Nacogdoches, flowers were laid out - including seven pink
roses - in a makeshift memorial as residents gathered around a taped off
area that contained a 3-by-3 piece of metal.

Ed Rohner, Nacogdoches airport manager, said some type of tank ended up on
a runway, and debris was scattered along the airport entrance road.

Cherokee County Sheriff James Campbell said debris was reported to have
fallen around the towns of Jacksonville, Palestine, Rusk and Athens in east
Texas.

"We've had people bring pieces of it up here to the office," he said. "We
certainly want to discourage that.

Debris also scattered in western Louisiana, including some pieces that
reportedly dropped into Toledo Bend reservoir on the Texas border,
threatening water supplies.

"I heard the piece coming down through the air. It sounded like it was
fluttering," said Elbie Bradley, 69, who was fishing on reservoir.

Two F-16s from the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth
were dispatched to Tyler to map the debris field.

Helicopters and soldiers from Fort Hood in central Texas were also
dispatched, a spokesman said. Members of the National Guard were
protecting the debris.

Authorities ordered people to stay 100 yards away from the debris because
of contamination fears. However, a number of Nacogdoches residents were
picking up pieces and turning them in to law enforcement officers.

G.W. Jones, assistant administrator at Nacogdoches Memorial Hospital, said
27 people had come to the hospital seeking information after touching
pieces of debris. He had no reports of any adverse effects so far.

"We're telling them to just wash their hands and any other body parts that
may have come in contact with the debris," Jones said. "The first thing is
not to touch it. If they do, they should contact their local ER or family
doctor for any follow up."

Shuttles have long used a chemical called hydrazine to run their auxiliary
power units. Hydrazine, a colorless liquid with an ammonia-like odor, is a
toxic chemical and can cause harm to anyone who contacts it.

Much of the area where debris has been reported lies in the Piney Woods
timber region of east Texas, which is rugged and densely wooded in places.
The Texas Forest Service was helping local officials plot debris locations
on a map.

NASA set up telephone number for people who find debris to call: 281- 483-3388.
Received on Sat 01 Feb 2003 06:40:18 PM PST


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