Civil war buff killed by blast

Published: Feb. 20, 2008 at 3:12 AM

RICHMOND, Va., Feb. 20 (UPI) -- A Civil War buff was killed Tuesday when munitions he apparently handled exploded outside his Virginia home, authorities said.

Samuel H. White, 53, of Chesterfield County, who sold Civil War artillery shells, cannonballs, bullets and other artifacts through his Web site, was fatally wounded by a blast that send a large piece of ordnance flying through the front-porch roof of a house a quarter-mile away, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Wednesday.

Chesterfield police Capt. Steve Neal said 20-30 nearby homes were evacuated as a precaution after police found unexploded munitions at the house, the newspaper said.

"We evacuated the neighbors in the immediate area just because of the potential that there could be some kind of secondary device," Neal said. "We don't have any reason to believe there will be an additional explosion, but we would rather be safe than sorry."

According to White's Web site, he claimed to have disarmed, cleaned and preserved about 500 artillery projectiles "and still have all my fingers (I must be doing something right, knock on wood)!"

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Order reprints



Additional News Stories
NHL: Buffalo 3, Washington 0 (8 min)
NBA: Detroit 90, Philadelphia 86 (9 min)
COL BKB: West Virginia 68, Duquesne 39 (11 min)
COL BKB: Purdue 86, Valparaiso 62 (12 min)
Texas coach to earn $5 million a year (15 min)
Rangers deal Millwood to Baltimore (22 min)
House bill seeks college football playoffs (32 min)
fark
Spend trillions of dollars to combat climate change, or face "extinction of the human race". OOGABOOGA...
Not News: Someone parked illegally. News: Fire Truck needs the spot. Fark: Violator is a Parking...
Photoshop this pianist and his fans
Neighbors beg a woman to stop feeding the vultures. Wish she would just carrion with her life
Woman who drank herself unconscious sues hospital for resulting leg amputations; not expected to...
Never visited any remote Pacific islands like Tahiti before? Better hurry before they're drowned...