Mobil Barge Explosion, Feb. 21, 2003. Pictures & Story.

At 10:13 a.m., Friday Morning February 21, 2003, an Explosion rocked the town of Sewaren. Everyone (who wasn't in a deep sleep) said that their houses shook like anything. The senior Men who sit down by the bay every morning were jolted And thrown to the ground. Several homes received damage from broken glass. Thankfully, No one was injured, at least on the New Jersey side. "But what was it that blew up?" many wondered. For many, it was another tank at Shell, possibly Hess, or worse - Another terrorist attack. Across the Arthur Kill a Barge in the middle of loading gasoline at the Mobil Depot blew up and caught fire. Hours after the explosion, the United States coast guard, which monitors the waterway by camera since 9/11, introduced Video footage taken from the PSE&G smokestack. The Video showed a very massive Explosion that appeared to reach across to NJ.

The one Barge exploded, while another one caught fire. Two workers from Bouchard CO, The Barge's owner were missing, but found dead. A worker for Exxon/Mobil was also severely burned. The Fire lasted well over two days. At this time, Cleanup crews from Atlantic Response, Clean Venture, & Ken's Marine service are working on the aftermath.

It was About 10:20 a.m. on Friday Morning. I was Sleeping as usual. But something had disturbed my sleep and woke me up. I got up to see a large Fire on the Television. Half groggy & not yet fully woken, I thought it was footage from the tragic Night Club fire in Rhode Island. I then Saw "Staten Island" and "Port Sicony", then "Mobil". I knew that this was the Mobil depot, just across the bay in Sewaren. I quickly looked out the window to see A Huge plume of Smoke & Flames. This brought on Instant flashbacks of the Shell Tank Fire June 11, 1996. I put on my Scanner and heard Woodbridge Police franticly trying to block some of the roads off leading to the waterfront. Woodbridge Fire Department were sent to the Shell/Motiva facility to stand-by. My phone began to ring non-stop from everyone who heard including my Mom, Grandfather, Friends, the dog, the butcher, the mailman, etc. I grabbed my Camera & Video gear, Grandfather's Cell phone, My Scanner, and put in a blank VCR tape to record the News footage, and headed out. My Father who saw the fire while working in Piscataway, came home when I was leaving and drove me to Old Road & Woodbridge Ave. I walked the rest of the way down to Cliff Road. I arrived at Woodbridge & Cliff at 11:03 a.m. to see it blocked off. I saw the Smoke & Flames, but the fire was much smaller than just half an hour earlier. I wanted to get a better view (better pics) so I went up East ave. to Ferry st. In the meantime, Helicopters from just about every agency possible were hovering overhead and Fire trucks & Ambulances were screaming into Town. Definitely a better view, But still blocked off. By the Tennis Courts were Camera Men & news reporters from the media. About an hour latter, Township Officials allowed people to move up (the pre-tense thought was that Cliff Road was Evacuated, along with the rest of Sewaren afterwards, but that was not true). For the rest of the Morning and afternoon, spectators and news reporters flocked to the Boat Basin to watch the fire be put under control and do their reporting.

Who Says that Living Around here isn't Exciting!!!