Cartco (Photo Matt Perry)

Jerry owns Cartco, a trailer supply and repair shop on Route 100 in Gray. He was going about his normal Monday; working in his garage when he went to the house for a few minutes to send a fax. As he was returning, he heard a hissing noise. Thinking it was just a water hose, he continued into the garage. Upon opening the door he could smell propane... he looked around and saw liquid "spewing" from under his forklift. "I ran to the forklift, shut the valve off to the propane, left the garage, shut the door and immediately called 911."

Within 3 minutes his dreams and garage flashed before his eyes. "The garage, when it blew up, seemed to come right up off the foundation." said Carter. His first thought was the safety of others, running to the street about 50 feet away to flag down cars. A state worker soon came upon the scene and was able to block the highway with his truck. Carter then ran in the opposite direction, closing traffic from the Dutton Hill Road area.

All of this happened in a matter of a few minutes, the call to 911 was made at 11:08 A.M. and the blast was reported at 11:11. According to Galen Morrison, Deputy Fire Chief, fire crews arrived at the scene just minutes after the first blast, but the building was already engulfed in flames. Due to a live, downed, power line and continued explosions, the fire department was limited to an "exterior defensive attack." Foam was used to extinguish the flames.

	Cartco (Photo Matt Perry)

When asked if he had any future plans to rebuild his 22-year business, Carter said he's "not really sure what I'm going to do or not going to do." He also added, "life is just different when everything is gone that you own."