The 365 foot brick ventilation stack dominated the skyline of Front Royal and could have seen for miles. It was the third ventilation stack to be located at AVTEX Fibers. The by-products of the Rayon Fiber process contain several deadly gases and fumes. Most deadly and inflammable of these was fumes from carbon disulfide, (CS2), a colorless liquid at room temperature. Huge steam driven turbines sucked the lethal gases from several locations through large underfloor and roof mounted ducts. The fumes were dispensed high in the sky to be diluted by the atmosphere.
The original brick stack was damaged by a spectacular fire in May,1955. Flames were reported to have shot 100 feet out of the stack with dense black clouds of smoke raising several hundred feet to be seen for miles.. The cause of the fire was said to be from a contractors torch which started in the underfloor duct system in the spinning department and spread up the stack. Damage was restricted to the duct-work and stack but it was estimated that repairs were between $500,000 and $1,000,000. Firefighters from Front Royal, Luray, Strasburg, and Winchester, Virginia, brought the fire in the duct work under control in about an hour although the fire in the stack burned for hours since there was no way of getting to it. No one was injured. Although the stack was damaged beyond use, it remained in place for several years and was finally taken down, brick by brick.
The second stack was a temporary measure after the fire but it lasted until 1962. It was made of metal lined with brick.
The third stack, containing 300 railroad cars of bricks, was built by Rust Engineering in the 1961-1962 period. It had a concrete base and was about 33 foot diameter. Six ground mounted flood lights lit the 365 foot stack at night so it could be seen by aircraft. In November, 1997, the Environmental Protection Agency supervised the destruction of the third stack. Within seconds the stack was reduced to rubble after a controlled muffled explosion.
Ref: Northern Virginia Daily