Here are 10 events, facts and personalities that are distinctly Douglas County. No. 1 The Roseburg Blast No event in Roseburg’s history is annually remembered like The Blast. The explosion on Aug. 7, 1959, killed 14 people, injured 125 and destroyed or damaged more than 100 buildings. A bizarre chain of events led to The Blast, and the key link was truck driver George Rutherford’s choice of a parking space for the night. Rutherford, a driver for the Pacific Powder Co., parked a truck loaded with 2 tons of dynamite and 4.5 tons of blasting agent near the intersection of …