Civil war buff killed by blast

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)!"