Vicksburg man – county supervisor’s cousin – dies in Byram plant explosion

A Vicksburg man and cousin of Warren County District 3 Supervisor Shawn Jackson was one of two fatalities in a plant explosion Monday near Byram, Mississippi.

William Jackson, 51, of Vicksburg, and Terrance Fortenberry, 56, died because of thermal burns received in the explosion, according to Hinds County Coroner Sharon Grisham-Stewart.

“Will was loved and cherished tremendously by his friends and family,” Supervisor Jackson said Saturday morning. “We are trying to make sense of it all. You just couldn’t have met a better person. I will miss him dearly.”

Both men were hospitalized at the Merit Health Central hospital when they died, The Clarion Ledger reports. Jackson died Thursday and Fortenberry died Friday.

The plant, DAR PRO Solutions, collects and recycles cooking oil and inedible meat byproducts, commonly used in the manufacture of dog food, according to its website.

DAR PRO, owned by Texas-based Darling Industries, was cited for “serious” violations in 2017, the paper reports, and settled with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for $12,604.80.