Explosion Forces Evacuation of Day-Care Center

More than 70 children were evacuated from an Alexandria day-care center yesterday after a cannon explosion shook the walls, an incident caused by a next-door tenant that works on defense equipment, city officials said.

No one was injured, but the explosion caused the walls to shift and ceiling tiles to fall at the Happy Home Child Learning Center in the 1400 block of Duke Street, said Capt. Luis Santano, an Alexandria Fire Department spokesman.

Seventy-one children were taken to neighboring Shiloh Baptist Church, where they waited for their parents to pick them up. Fifteen adults were also evacuated from the center.

Both the day-care center and the company, BAE Systems, will be closed until the city completes an inspection of the building's electrical system.

Alexandria officials are investigating whether BAE Systems, a research company, was complying with city codes and why a day-care center was allowed to operate next to a company that tests defense equipment.

Stu Rosenwasser, a manager for the company, said the explosion was caused by pressurized air during a test and added that the device was a smaller caliber than a cannon. He called it an "accelerator" but declined to explain its use.

According to Rosenwasser, BAE Systems began leasing the space in 1999, before Happy Home moved in.

"We were there a long time before they were," he said.

A message left at the day-care center yesterday was not returned.

BAE Systems is between the day-care center and the church and shares a wall with each, Rosenwasser said.

The firm's Web site describes it as "a global company engaged in the development, delivery and support of advanced defense, security and aerospace systems in the air, on land and at sea."