PHOTOS: The eyes of the nation were on the Las Vegas valley, specifically Henderson, 35 years ago when a series of explosions at an industrial plant rocked the valley killing two people, leaving hundreds injured, causing more than $100 million in damage and impacting the NASA space shuttle program.
In a 2018 interview with 8 News Now, retired Henderson Fire Captain Don Griffie was in one of the first engines heading to the reported fire at Pacific Engineering and Production Company of Nevada, referred to as PEPCON, when the first explosion happened.
“It blew, and we just reached our hands up and caught the windshield on the truck as it blew out,” Griffie said. “He stopped immediately, and we took it from the side, and I just turned around, and I said ‘You know what, there ain’t nothing there anymore, we’re turning around and getting out of here.’”