Chimney falls on powerstation, falling wrong way... Oops!!!

D’oh!! Spectators run for cover after 300ft power station chimney in Springfield is demolished, and falls the WRONG way

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 12:37 PM on 11th November 2010

It could be a scene straight from the Simpsons.

But unfortunately for workmen responsible for demolishing this 300ft power station in Springfield, home to Homer, Bart and Marge, this was real life.

The wayward structure toppled in the wrong direction, sending spectators scrambling before knocking down two 12,000-volt power lines and crashing on to a building which housed backup generators.

Holy Cow! The chimney toppled the wrong way leaving 4,000 spectators in Springfield, Ohio, running for their lives

No one was injured, but about 4,000 people in the Springfield area, about 26 miles northeast of Dayton in Ohio, lost power because of the incident.

The 90-metre tower at the unused 83-year-old Mad River Power Plant teetered and then toppled in a southeast direction - instead of east, as originally planned - seconds after explosives were detonated.

'It just started leaning the other way and I thought, "Holy cow", Springfield Township Fire Chief John Roeder told the Dayton Daily News. 

'It was terrifying for a little bit.'

There it goes! Lisa Kelly, the president and owner of Idaho-based Advanced Explosives Demolition Incorporated which handled the demolition, said the explosives detonated correctly, but an undetected crack on the south side of the tower pulled it backwards

Spingfield's most famous family, the Simpsons, are well used to bizarre incidents and accidents occuring in their city

Lisa Kelly, the president and owner of Idaho-based Advanced Explosives Demolition Incorporated which handled the demolition, told the Daily News that the explosives detonated correctly, but an undetected crack on the south side of the tower pulled it backwards.

'Nobody's happy with things that go wrong in life, and sometimes it's out of our hands and beyond anybody's prediction,' Mrs Kelly told The Columbus Dispatch.

'We're all extremely thankful no one was injured.'

Officials say the debris landed on the FirstEnergy property.

'We had it all planned out,' Tim Suter, FirstEnergy's manager of external affairs, told the Daily News. 

'Everything was scoped out - it caught everybody by surprise.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1328707/Springfield-power-station-chimney-demolished-falls-wrong-way.html#ixzz150FlJOb1