Qualla: The PEPCON Disaster https://qualla.com/pepcon-disaster en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:03 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: The PEPCON Disaster https://qualla.com/pepcon-disaster The PEPCON Disaster: Introduction https://qualla.com/pepcon-disaster/ The fire chief of Henderson was leaving his station when he spotted the smoke column. As he raced toward the plant, a massive white and orange fireball—larger than a city block—mushroomed into the Nevada sky. On May 4, 1988, the Pacific Engineering and Production Company of Nevada became one of the largest industrial explosions in American history, its shockwave shattering windows across the Las Vegas Valley and leaving a crater where a chemical plant once stood.

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]]> Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/q/j/pepcon-disaster-wp/9qqj-the-pepcon-disaster-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full The PEPCON Disaster: Fuel for the Stars https://qualla.com/pepcon-disaster/ PEPCON manufactured ammonium perchlorate, the oxidizer that makes solid rocket fuel burn. Along with nearby Kerr-McGee, the Henderson facility was one of only two American producers of the compound. Their product powered the Space Shuttle's solid rocket boosters, Trident submarin...

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]]> Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/q/j/pepcon-disaster-wp/9qqj-the-pepcon-disaster-fuel-for-the-stars.mp3 0:06 2 full The PEPCON Disaster: An Improbable Neighbor https://qualla.com/pepcon-disaster/ The industrial zone southeast of Las Vegas made for strange bedfellows. PEPCON sat less than two miles from Kerr-McGee's similar facility, which itself suffered blast damage in the explosion. A marshmallow factory—Kidd & Company—operated nearby. A gravel quarry worked the land to...

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]]> Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/q/j/pepcon-disaster-wp/9qqj-the-pepcon-disaster-an-improbable-neighbor.mp3 0:06 3 full The PEPCON Disaster: The Day the Desert Shook https://qualla.com/pepcon-disaster/ The Henderson fire chief watched the fireball swell as he approached. Dozens of workers fled on foot across the desert. The initial fire triggered a chain reaction of explosions, each larger than the last. The final blast registered on seismographs, recorded by the USGS as a seis...

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]]> Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/q/j/pepcon-disaster-wp/9qqj-the-pepcon-disaster-the-day-the-desert-shook.mp3 0:06 4 full The PEPCON Disaster: Aftermath and Erasure https://qualla.com/pepcon-disaster/ PEPCON carried only $1 million in liability insurance, a fraction of the destruction it caused. The parent company quickly distanced itself, renaming the subsidiary first to PEPCON Production, Inc., then to Western Electrochemical Co. The crater filled in. The desert reclaimed wh...

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]]> Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/q/j/pepcon-disaster-wp/9qqj-the-pepcon-disaster-aftermath-and-erasure.mp3 0:06 5 full The PEPCON Disaster: Lessons Buried https://qualla.com/pepcon-disaster/ Multiple agencies investigated. The United States Fire Administration compiled reports. The Department of Labor challenged the fire department's conclusions about cause and origin. What emerged was a portrait of accumulated risk: aging infrastructure, concentrated hazardous mater...

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]]> Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/q/j/pepcon-disaster-wp/9qqj-the-pepcon-disaster-lessons-buried.mp3 0:06 6 full