Prayers Please

[tonya]

Please say a prayer for our very dear friend, Clyde Jones. Clyde is one of the most compassionate persons you will ever find. We don't personally know the other burn victim, but both are in our prayers, as well as the family/friends of the decedent. What a tragic accident.

Tonya

One dead in blast at Daytona Beach wastewater plant
Staff Report

Last updated Jan. 11, 2006

DAYTONA BEACH — A city worker was killed this morning and two others seriously burned in an explosion at the Wastewater Treatment Plant on Bethune Point shortly after 11:20 a.m., EVAC ambulance officials said.

The dead man was identified this afternoon as Eric Johnson, 59, of Orange City. He was the lead plant maintenance mechanic at the plant. He has worked for the city since 1981.

The injured workers were Clyde Jones, 40, who has been with the with the city since 1998 and Michael Martin, 42, who has worked for the city since 1983. Both men are from Daytona Beach. They suffered severe burns and and were airlifted to Orlando Regional Medical Center, where they were listed in critical condition this afternoon.

Four other workers were decontaminated at the scene and taken to Halifax but are not seriously injured.

Police said the men were working on a metal roof damaged by last year's hurricanes when the accident occurred. One of the men was using a blow torch near tanks of methanol and sodium bisulphate when one of the tanks exploded.

Methanol, a form of alcohol, is a highly flammable liquid and is usually used to remove nitrates from waste water. Sodium bisulphate is a non-flammable liquid normally used in treatment plants to neutralize chlorine. Officials said the sodium bisulphate tank was nearly empty before the blast and only had residual amounts inside.

Investigators discovered a leak in the methanol tank after the explosion but they are not certain if it was there before or was caused by the blast.

Mitt Tidwell, Daytona Beach utilities director, said the accident would not disrupt water or wastewater services.

"This will not make any impact on water delivery or water quality," he said. "We’ll still be processing wastewater."

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials are examining the Halifax River to see if the damage has caused any problems in the water, said Daytona Beach Fire Lt. John King.
Staff Writers Kathy Kelly, Lyda Longa, John Gallas and Tony Briggs contributed to this story.

[tonya]

Please say a prayer for his family. Clyde Jones passed away today at 2:30PM. May he rest in Peace. I'll see him on the other side.

Tonya

[Barb]

oh how sad, Tonya. I'm sorry.

I will put his family and the other men's family's in my prayers. What a horrible tragedy.

Barb

[IncogNITO]

I was say a prayer for both the Johnson family and your friend Clyde and his family.

JMayo

[Goddess]

Oh, I am so sorry. I have been praying for them all since I first heard of the accident yesterday. I will keep their families (and friends) in my prayers.

[tonya]

It wasn't hard to be a friend of Clyde Jones. He never said a bad thing about anyone. My husband and I bowled in a league with him a few years ago. He could lighten up the tensest of moments and make everyone erupt in sheer laughter. ;D That was Clyde. My husband and son just bowled at Belaire Lanes Tuesday night with him, as did the rest of the league, and they as well of a huge circle of friends will dearly miss Clyde. He was one of kind.

They will be announcing the funeral arrangements. It will be attended by many, myself and family included. They're also taking donations at Belaire next Tuesday for his youngest daughter's college education.

His wife Casey is devastated. May God help her. Loosing such a special person, especially when it's your husband, I can only imagine the empty, helpless feelings she must have.

Prayers to Casey and her family.

Prayers also to Michael Martin's family and

Prayers to Eric Johnson's family.

Tonya

[tonya]

January 22, 2006

Hundreds mourn city blast victim

DAYTONA BEACH -- He held no political office nor any high-profile job.

Yet Clyde Anthony Jones, who was killed in a city treatment plant explosion, drew several hundred people to his funeral Saturday -- a mournful gathering fit for a public leader.

The vice mayor and two city commissioners were among those who paid tribute to Jones.

He was a maintenance worker for seven years.

He also was a husband, a father, a Gulf War veteran.

He loved to fish. And oh could he bowl.

His warm smile and sunny personality won him countless friends, many of whom packed the pews and aisles of Central Baptist Church in Daytona Beach.

"Clyde had a magic about him that I had never figured out," said Jerry Norris, a longtime friend who taught Jones to bowl. "Clyde was entertaining. Clyde was the person who lit up the room."

Jones, 40, died on Jan. 12, the day after he and two other workers triggered a blast while removing a metal roof above two chemical tanks at the plant. Sparks from a cutting torch ignited methanol fumes, officials have said.

Jones leaves behind a wife and four daughters.

Jones' supervisor, Eric Johnson, 59, died in the blast. Co-worker Michael Martin, 42, has been listed in critical condition at Orlando Regional Medical Center since the accident.

It has been said that a person's life flashes before him at the moment of death. Loved ones at the funeral watched flashes of Jones' life via pictures and video snippets.

A lean young man in the U.S. Army. A mature, bulkier man casting fishing lines from a boat. A jubilant new husband hugging his wife, Casey, at their wedding reception, while his knee-high stepdaughter tugged at his pants.

"It's obvious that Clyde was a valued member of our community and to our cities and to family," Vice Mayor Rick Shiver said. "He will be greatly missed."

The deadly explosion could become a catalyst for improving the safety of city workers across the nation so "this sort of thing never happens again," Commissioner Yvonne Newcomb-Doty said in an impassioned speech.

"Clyde did not die in vain," Newcomb-Doty said. "We are going to take up the banner ... so that Mr. Jones and Mr. Johnson will be remembered as the rallying cry that woke us up to the new century we live in."

The Rev. Dave Phillips said people hear of folks who apparently have had no enemies, and an abundance of friends.

"Sometimes that's a fable; sometimes that's a legend," Phillips said. "I'm wondering with Clyde if that's not a reality."

So why was Jones so respected?

He loved and accepted himself and projected that on others, Norris said. "He made no apologies for himself. And that's a rare thing."

Although Jones was a good man, he was no angel, Norris said. He loved attention, and he sometimes would throw tantrums if he bowled poorly.

"Any pin left standing was a personal enemy," Norris said, stirring some welcomed laughter.

Kim Gray read aloud Casey Jones' parting words to her husband, written as if it were a letter. Casey described their inseparable bond and how life will never be the same without him.

Many in the audience broke into tears.

"Life is going to be hard for me without your encouragement and embrace," Casey Jones wrote. "Clyde, I will miss your smile, your laughter, your comfort, your strength, your love."


Never to be forgotten.

Tonya

[Barb]

What a wonderful tribute to this man. He sounded like a person who won't be forgotten. I pray God is looking over his family....

Barb