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THE UPSHUR COUNTY INCIDENT by
George Lester |  |
There
was a bridge just a few hundred yards from our house in Upshur County. It crossed
a little creek than ran through the oil lease my father managed. It was so polluted
nothing survived in it for very long. In those days there were no regulatory agencies
such as the EPA so the oil companies dumped what ever they pleased into the nearest
stream.
One day I sneaked a cigarette from my father’s pack and left
the house to smoke it without fear being caught. I was walking across the bridge
when I lit up and casually tossed the match into the water. What I didn’t know
was that floating down below was “live oil”, meaning it was highly volatile because
it contained a large amount of natural gas. The whole area exploded and the bridge
soon burst into flames. I jumped down to the ground below and started splashing
water on it to try to put it out. I soon realized I was fighting a losing battle.
Luckily, about that time a county road worker who had seen the smoke came driving
up. With our combined effort we were able to extinguish the fire after a long,
laborious battle. When it was over and we where catching our breath he asked me
how it caught on fire. Maybe honesty is the best policy in most cases, but I knew
the truth would get me in a lot of trouble under the present circumstances. I
just said that I had no idea and that I had just seen it burning and tried to
put it out. About that time my mother arrived on the scene to see what was going
on. I really felt guilty when he told her what a fine young man I was for seeing
my civic duty and taking quick action like that. The bridge was still passable,
but due to the damage, it had to be rebuilt later. Each day when the school bus
passed over it and the other kids commented about the scorched bridge and wondered
how it happened I offered no comment.
I lived with the fear of being exposed
in my deceit for years after that and I didn’t even tell my closest friends about
what had taken place that day. Eventually, I entered the military service in World
War Two, served out the duration and was discharged after the conflict was
over. When I returned home my family had moved to another area during the war
so I was far away from Upshur County
but the fear still lingered in the back of my mind. No doubt the county commissioner
had long since forgotten that burned bridge. However, I didn’t want to take any
chances so I remained silent about the incident. I tell it now only because it
has been over 60 years and I’m sure the statute of limitations has run out by
now. |
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