Gracie Terrell ‘Thank God / didn’t’ go outside William and Gracie Lee Terrell sutveyed their front yard and wondered aloud how they escaped a worse fate. Their home, a small wooden house, painted a bright red, with a matching picket fence in front, was directly across from the over- turned liquid petroleum car which exploded Saturday evening. Leaning against the fence, they pointed to the still burning car and the large spot of blackened ground burned off by the tremendous heat. The charred remains of kudzu, honeysuckle, and a few pine trees, less than 50 feet away, reminded them how lucky they were. ‘The fact that their house, % ofa mile from the center of Buckhead, is still intact is amazing. day evening began normal ‘enough for this Morgan County couple, Mr. Terrell, tired from a day's work ia the yard Sse bed early. Mrs. agile | ee A, ee a ae ‘had fallen because there was a lot of vibration in the house,”” Mrs. Terrell said as she ‘began her first-hand account of the mishap. ‘‘I don’t know how many .. . but it definitely shook the house more than once."" Then she related that mas a lot of strange noises, . screeching, and ripping, as the 21 ‘Georgia Railroad cars derailed, jack- knifed, and collided into one another. Though citizens in all parts of the county reported hearing a loud “boom” ‘when the LP gas car exploded, Mrs. Terrell said the blast was not particularly loud to her. ‘It sounded more like a jet taking off,"" she said. “After it happened I called out to my husband to get up because something terrible had happened,”” she remembered. By that time the couple could see the bright orange blaze which illuminated the sky as if it were day. Inan effort to save their shrubbery and their house they watered down everything they could reach with a garden hose. However, they were not out too long before a policeman came by and told them to evacuate. Gathering together a few important papers the couple left for Greensboro to spend the night with relatives. The Terrells will probably never know whether or not wetting down the house was a factor in saving it. They do know however, that much of the shrubbery was already badly scorched before they came out with the water hose. The hedgerow lining the picket fence was all but completely destroyed by the heat. Only small green tips protruding about an inch above the ground indicate where flowers once grew. In the backyard, recently planted tomato and onion plants resembled plants in the midst of a month-long drought, wilted and © brown, Mearr » the oat which _Mrs, Terrell 4 “beauti:, fully green™ P soratden’ i . light brown in various sections of "yard. She wondered if everything would grow back. Despite the peril they were in, the Terrells said they never panicked. “‘I didn't come out right away when it happened,” Mrs. Terrell stated. “Thank God, I didn’t, If indeed she had stepped out when the car first burst into flames, Mrs. Terrell believes the heat would have singed her hair, or worse. Though most Buckhead citizens were allowed to return to their homes early Sunday morning, the proximity of the Terrell home to the site prompted officials to keep them out until Sunday afternoon. The Terrells had nothing but praise for the firemen who stayed at the derailment site throughout the tense period. “‘I thanked the officers when we came back yesterday (Sunday) for how hard they all worked to get us out and how they put their life on the line for the people. I think they deserve a lot more credit and appreciation than some people give them,"’ she Said.”Mrs. Gracie Terrell points to the gully where the rail car exploded Saturday evening. Husband, William, looks on.