LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Striking the ground with explosive force, the crash of UPS flight 2976 tested even first responders who were specially trained for aviation disasters.

“There was just so much smoke, so much fire,” Louisville Muhammad Ali International’s Chief of Public Safety Josh Grimes said. “It seemed like every few seconds there were some type of explosion that would kind of startle everybody.”

Twenty days after the crash, Grimes spoke about how his firefighters were the first to arrive at the scene and why they wondered if they would survive.

“I’ve heard some of our responders say that they thought this was the day they may not make it home,” Grimes said. “Because of all the explosions, you’ve seen the tanks that were down there. There’s so many tanks where that oil recycli

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