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Show I 0" j Flaming Oil-Fed Inferno Tosse's Tanks Off Tracks y 24 Oil Tankers, 5 Coal Cars Destroyed; One Man Injured 5 Damage Estimated in Neighborhood ' Of One Million Dollars; Six Fire Depts. Respond to Alarm A smoldering mass of twisted steel presented a sickening sight here Wednesday morning as Denver Rio Grande railroad employees and firemen began i ... . - ... . 1 , 't " '. - , ' 'i1 "t ' I V T- r ,' - ' ' . " ' H ' ' ' ' ' fu ' 1 I x . . - I -f- V' T ,y-'-.'- ? . . - ' -v? I , ,r , ' , ; v v r---: (. - ' - i -4 - :-.r - -i it I f.r r- ' I 3 S J I ...... - -j j ' - r : , i - . o - ' . ...... - - -'Vs.- - r . . '' f;- - " V"', A - w-' -' - " I V-- cleaning up after a fire and explosion ex-plosion which destroyed approximately approxi-mately thirty railroad cars, 24 of which were filled with oil and the others with coal. While the exact amount of damage could not be determined at press time, some estimated es-timated it at over a million dollars. dol-lars. The oil-fed inferno was believed started from a hot journal on the railroad car wheel which ignited the oil after the cars derailed. The explosion Jossed the tankers into the air like leaves as flames shot several hundred feet in all directions. direc-tions. The accident occured at First West and Seventh South at about 1 p.m., Tuesday and miraculously only one person was injured seriously. ser-iously. Man Injured Joe Tracy, a railroad employee was' taken to the Utah Valley hospital hos-pital with a fractured skull sustained sus-tained when a hook on a swing from a railroad car struck his head. He was removed to the St. Marks hospital, where his condition condi-tion was reported fair Wednesday. Several individuals called in the fire alarm as the scorching flames shot into the air and could be seen for as many as 25 miles away. Teachers at the Jefferson school, two blocks from the scene of the explosion calling in students after the lunch hour reported seeing the railroad cars jack-knife on the track and the blaze shoot up into the air. They called in the alarm immediately and evacuated the school. ' The Westside school only a block from the fire, was also evacuated, the teachers taking their respective respec-tive groups to a safe distance from the scene. They reported that students stu-dents were in class at the time of the explosion but no one at the school heard the explosion or felt the blast. An example of efficient fire fighting was exhibited by the Springville Volunteer department, first on the scene and later aided by departments from Provo, Spanish Span-ish Fork, Geneva Steel plant Orem and chemical equipment from Salt Lake City. The firemen kept the fire from spreading to the near-by dwelling of Mrs. Alice Wilmott and from hay and straw stacks belonging to Edward Boyer, although the heat from the flames was terrific 75 feet away and the falling water burned the firemen's hands. Mrs. Wilmott said Wednesday that other than the paint being scorched on the west side of her1 home, very little damage resulted to her property from the fire, thanks to the firemen. She expressed expres-sed her thanks also to high school boys and men who took her furniture fur-niture from her home and placed it at a safe distance away from the burning dripping oil. She was ironing at the time of the blast and glanced up to see (Continued on page two) 1 ' 1 : . ) j ... ' . , , , - : ., i ...... '..,'i ' ...',' '"! . , - ' , "' f r . j ' - -.- . , - .v ' " - i -I ' ' . -.- .- '- -,.-- i , , ' . :"" - ' 1 - i, 1 . . ' - ' 1 ' to! 1 a... ..... 1 Smoke fills the air and flames shoot several hundred feet in the air, picture above, as 24 railroad rail-road oil-tankers caught fire and exploded in one of the costliest and most spectular fires ever seen here, Tuesday afternoon. Below, a few of the huge tanks find resting places beside the track after being pushed end-up into the air by the terrific explosion. Firemen and railroad employees are seen clearing away the debris. (Continued from page 1) Clean-up Begins After Costly Oil-fed Fire the -north bound train just as she heard a strange thud and saw the flames shoot into the air. Fred Weight, working in the i City cemetery, said he had his foot resting on a shovel several rods from the railroad tracks and the first blast jarred him and moved his truck a short distance away. Firemen and officials were at the scene throughout the night to watch the cooling cars. Tanks on end, broken wheels, a lake of water wa-ter diked up between the up-rooted tracks and the Wilmot home, seared sear-ed utility poles, broken wires, burned trees and blackened earth for several rods in every direction were mute evidence of the immensity immen-sity of the blaze, believed to be the most spectacular and costly ever seen in this vicinity. Work was going forward at a rapid rate Wednesday reparing the railroad tracks, removing wrecked tanks and cars, graveling the area, rewiring and replacing utility poles and generally fixing up the entire area of the explosion. A bitter cold wind, followed by snow, hampered somewhat the efforts ef-forts of workmen to clean away the debris throughout Wednesday forenoon. A few people were on hand to look over the scene Wednesday morning but only a handful compared com-pared to the thousands who came from miles away to watch the red, roaring flames the day before. |