April 1, 2014. On Monday evening, deputies with the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office responded along with the Zionville Fire Department and Watauga Medics to 179 Lola Perry Road in Zionville to a report of an explosion that had severely injured an individual.
Kevin L. Isaacs incurred life threatening injuries and was airlifted to Johnson City Medical Center. Watauga County Sheriff Len Hagaman said Isaac’s age wasn’t available as of press time.
“We are extremely fortunate to be able to call upon the Wilkes County Sheriff’s Office Explosive Ordinance Disposal and thank them for their quick and professional response,” Hagaman said.
Deputies discovered that Isaacs was disassembling old blasting caps and removing the explosive material when something sparked the unstable chemicals and an explosion occurred. There were over 100 more live blasting caps located at the scene which prompted deputies to contact the Wilkes County Sheriff’s Office Bomb Squad.
As the outside scene was being processed, deputies obtained a search warrant for the residence to insure that there were not any other explosive devices inside. There were numerous blasting caps and other implements located inside.
Wilkes County Sheriff’s Office Bomb Squad removed the explosives and elected to detonate the remaining blasting caps at the scene due to the age and type of explosive material used in their production.
The investigation is continuing to determine where the blasting caps were obtained and why they were being disassembled.