PORTLAND — 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 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.
“His passion was with the tank and with World War II history and collecting memorabilia,” said Dennis Ripp, president of the Military Vehicle Collectors Club of Oregon. Preston was the former president of the group and was a board member of the national Military Vehicle Preservation Association, Ripp said.
“I’ve been broken up all day about his death,” said Ripp, another close friend.
Paramedics tried to save the men, but they died from their injuries.
The armored vehicle is a 1944 M18 Hellcat, which is technically a tank destroyer, the sheriff said. Preston’s friends said he took it to parades, fundraisers, auctions and live history displays at schools.
Greenberg said Preston bought the tank — a surplus vehicle — from a dealer in Denver, who had imported it from Yugoslavia.
Greenberg said Preston, who owned a Portland towing company, leaves behind a wife and two children.
