SAVANNAH, Ga. () – 17 years ago, Feb. 7, 2008, an explosion at the Imperial Sugar refinery in Port Wentworth rocked the community.

Over those years, News 3 has covered the event, the aftermath and the impact of the explosion on those in the area.

Eight workers died the night of the explosion and six later succumbed to their injuries. Three dozen were treated for injuries at Memorial Health in Savannah while others were transferred to the burn unit in Augusta.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (USCSB) led a months-long federal investigation and found combustible sugar dust that built up in an enclosed lower-level conveyer belt sparked the explosion that leveled most of this refinery.

The company was fined $8.7 million and USCSB cited 129 safety violations and determined that the company had been forewarned on a number of occasions about the possibility of what could happen.

“It was a terrible lesson for a lot of people to learn and the thing we discovered locally in the aftermath of this explosion is that this sort of thing happens with frightening regularity,” said former Representative John Barrow (D-GA12) in 2008.

Barrow introduced federal legislation in the aftermath of the tragedy that would have required the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) to significantly tighten regulations

The bill passed the House of Representatives with one that, in his view, would have streamlined the regulatory process, coming up with a regulation that everyone could manage. The bill stalled, especially after then-President George W. Bush indicated he would not support it.

Back at home, the efforts of first responders in the aftermath of the explosion were grueling, and community members rallied around Port Wentworth in support.

“What I saw and what I heard will live with me forever. The sounds, the screams, the shock on my friends’ faces that I’ve been knowing forever,” said Glenn “Pig” Jones, former Port Wentworth Mayor. “I had a lot of friends there, and I was asking and really no one knew how many.” 

Jones learned one of his best friends from high school, Tony Thomas, was among those missing. Thomas was the last found in the massive rubble.

Two years ago, Kenyatta Roebuck painfully reminisced. She was 16 years old and working at her first job when a friend called to tell her to check on her mom.

“It’s 15 years for the city and everyone else. But for me and my family, it literally feels like something that just happened to us,” Roebuck told News 3.

Roebuck spent most of her time after the tragedy mentoring children in foster care who grew up without a parent. Much like she had to do for too many of her formative years. 

Now, 17 years later, the story is a painful reminder of the loss, a cautionary tale of mismanagement and regulatory failure as well as a bittersweet reminder of the power of community.