WAVERLY, Tenn. (WTVF) — Unfortunately, the Humphreys County community is no stranger to painful disasters. Earlier this month, 16 people were killed in an explosion at the AES Plant. In 2021, the community weathered a devastating flood that killed 20 people. But the heartache stretches back even further than that.
Frank Craver remembers the moment he heard about the explosion at the AES plant. For him, it felt like history was barreling back down the tracks. "When something like this happens, you don't ever forget it," Craver said.
It was a cold evening on February 22, 1978, when a train derailed in downtown Waverly. Two days later, cleaning up the mangled mess drew quite a crowd, including Craver, a volunteer firefighter, and his 6-year-old daughter. "School got out early that day, about 1 p.m. I went and picked my daughter up," Craver said.
Father and daughter were standing with the police chief, watching crews work to empty a propane tanker car, when the unthinkable happened. "They were going to offload the propane out of one tank into an 18-wheeler. They pulled it off and that's when the explosion happened," Craver said.
"I had on a heavy coat, long sleeve shirt, pants — and it burned all of that off of me and blew me out of my shoes," Craver remembered. "The next thing I knew the boy that's in the picture over there was throwing his fire coat around me — and I said what happened?"
Sixteen people were killed in the explosion, including the police chief Craver had been standing next to just moments earlier. "Nobody could recognize anybody except by our voices," Craver said.
Craver and his daughter eventually were taken to Cincinnati to treat their extensive burn wounds. "I had third, and some fourth degree burns over about 70 percent of my body," Craver said.
Craver had to endure painful skin grafts and whirlpool treatments for nearly five months before he could come back home. "Everybody wants to know how I have survived all this. I think it's because I have not held back. I've told people about it. I've let people know what's going on," Craver said.
We saw that first hand. Craver is always willing to tell his story, including to curious tourists out at the memorial site. He's even left his phone number at the memorial for anyone wanting to learn more. "You need some kind of memory for the next generation of people coming along," Craver said.
Having the memorial site to come out to remember and reflect has been so important for this community, and perhaps it's a lesson in the aftermath of the AES explosion as well. "Hopefully they will maybe do a memorial over there," Craver said.
To him, remembering is crucial to help his community heal once again. "These people, they don't need to be forgotten," Craver said.
If you want to hear more of Craver's story, he and his daughter collaborated with Yasmine Ali on a book called "Walk Through Fire."
Do you have memories from the 1978 train explosion in Waverly? You can email me at Chris.Davis@NewsChannel5.com.
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