PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Two men killed by an explosion inside a World War II-era tank at an Oregon firing range were participating in a video shoot in a military vehicle owned by one of the victims, a collector who had been filmed for shows on the Discovery Channel, the Smithsonian Channel and a video game commercial.
A crew was filming the tank firing rounds when the blast occurred Tuesday east of the city of Bend, killing vehicle owner Steven Todd Preston, 51, and Austin Tyler Lee, 22, Deschutes County Sheriff L. Shane Nelson said.
Nelson said Wednesday that the cause of the blast was under investigation and the video was to be used for an exhibit, but did not give further details. Steve Greenberg, a close friend of Preston’s and fellow tank owner, said his friend had fired rounds before and “everything worked fine.”
He said they were “testing some armor plate” when the explosion occurred. Preston was very safety-conscious, which is why the accident is even more shocking, Greenberg said.
Preston’s close friends said he was a military vehicle collector who owned the tank as well as a World War II amphibious vehicle, a Humvee, a military motorcycle and a vintage observation plane.