JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Two of the men who died on Wednesday when a chemical plant exploded were co-workers and best friends.

Their families said Parrish Ashley, 36, and Karey Henry, 35, were side by side in a break-room trailer about 1:30 p.m. when they were killed by a blast that witnesses described as like a bomb going off.

The two were employees of T2 Laboratories Inc., a manufacturer of solvents and fuel additives.

Henry, a chemical specialist at the facility, was 35. He was a husband and a father of two.

"He was a beautiful person, a good brother," Welton Henry said.

"They were together throughout all of this," said Henry's niece, Dana Young. "I know they attended church together. Ties run long and run thick and run deep."

Ashley was 36 and also a chemical specialist. He was a father to a 1-year-old girl.

"She won't never know her dad," said Bridgette White, Ashley's sister-in-law. "It's going to be hard for my sister with the baby, because she always say 'Dada,' and it's going to be hard because she'll never see him."

His family told Channel 4's Laura Mazzeo they never imagined he would die at work.

"He was just cool," White said. "If you were to see him off the street he'd give you a big smile and your spirit would click with his spirit."

The families of the victims are faced with the unimaginable: planning funerals at a time everyone else is involved in holiday celebrations.

"With Christmas next week, we're not shopping for gifts -- we've got to go look at caskets," White said.

The other two casualties of the explosion were 49-year-old Robert Scott Gallagher, reported to be the co-owner of T2 Labs, and 52-year-old Charles Bolchoz.

A friend of Gallagher's sent Channel 4 an e-mail saying, "He was a great person who cared for the safety of his employees."

No information was available about Bolchoz.