A series of explosions on May 4, 1988, near the City of Henderson, Nevada, claimed two lives, injured approximately 372 people including 15 firefighters, and caused damage estimated over $100 million. The explosions affected a large portion of the metropolitan Las Vegas area and caused the activation of disaster plans by several agencies. Considering the magnitude of the explosions, the loss of only two lives and the fact that only a few of the injuries were critical can be described as very fortunate. The incident presented tremendous risk and unusual challenge to the fire departments involved, but they managed the incident with relatively minor casualties. The lives of most of the plant employees were saved by their decision to evacuate the plant, prior to the major explosions. This and other key issues are summarized in the table on the following page.