Authorities said Wednesday the explosion that hit a liquefied natural gas storage facility in Eastern Washington earlier this week threw 250-pound pieces of steel up to 300 yards through the air.

Benton County sheriff's Deputy Joe Lusignan said Wednesday that it was “a little bit of a miracle” that no one was killed.

“It was an extremely powerful explosion, the initial explosion,” he said. “Fortunately we didn't have any subsequent ones after that.”

The Monday blast inside a processing plant at the Williams Northwest Pipeline LNG storage facility outside Plymouth, Wash., injured five people, and left a big gash in the side of an LNG storage tank.

KENT, Ohio — A person suspected of firing a gunshot on the campus of Kent State University on Wednesday was captured later that night and was in custody at a hospital, campus officials said.Campus police said the male suspect was in custody at Robinson Memorial Hospital in Ravenna. They did not say why he was at the hospital and gave no other details.The university posted a notice on its Twitter page Wednesday night saying the suspect had been apprehended and there was no longer a threat to anyone on campus.A Kent State spokeswoman said the male suspect fired the shot into the ground around 9 p.m. near Bowman Hall, an academic building. No injuries were reported.The campus was the site of deadly shootings by Ohio National Guard members during a Vietnam War protest in 1970.

NEW YORK — It’s a scramble to the top.About 700 people will be taking the long way up to the 72nd floor at 4 World Trade Center on Thursday evening — hiking up the stairs.The event is called the “Runyon Up,” a fundraiser for the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation.Elite climbers will lead off the event. The general field will go up after that, with climbers heading off one at a time every few seconds.