1927 — Nov 14, Natural Gas Tank Explosion, Equitable Gas Co., Pittsburgh, PA       —     28

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 2-21-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/-

–28  Brotzman, W. S. “Damaging Gas Explosion at Pittsburgh, PA.” MWR, Nov 1927, 500.

–28  National Fire Protection Association. Fire Protection Handbook (11th Ed.). 1954, p. 34.

–28  Walker, John. Disasters. Chicago: Follett Publishing Co., 1973, p. 118.

–28  Wikipedia. “1927 Pittsburgh gas explosion.” 3-2-2012 modification.

Narrative Information

Brotzman: “On Monday, November 14, 1927, at 8:43 a. m., an explosion of natural gas occurred in Pittsburgh which produced tremors throughout the city such as might have been caused by a severe earthquake. The explosion caused the death of 28 persons, the injury of more than 400, and a property loss of about $5,000,000.

 

“The scene of the explosion was about 1 mile west of the Weather Bureau office. The loud report and the jolt experienced at that office turned attention in the direction of its source. The first view showed what seemed to be a dense mass of dust and smoke rising from the ruins. An instant later the mass burst into flames and a ball of fire apparently 100 feet in diameter separated from the dense mass and began to rise. It rose rapidly, the volume growing smaller with ascent until finally it burned out at an estimated height of 1,000 feet.

 

“In the immediate vicinity of the explosion buildings were leveled with but few exceptions. Within a radius of half a mile most of the buildings were badly damaged and many persons were injured.  Extending the radius to 1 mile there was damage to plate-glass windows in Pittsburgh amounting to $50,000, and damage such as broken windows, the falling of plaster, etc., was noted as far as 6 miles in all directions.

 

“The sound of the explosion was heard throughout a radius of 15 to 20 miles.

 

“The barograph in the Weather Bureau office rose about 0.035 inch at the time of explosion and immediately dropped back to the original pressure. A microbarograph in the Taylor Instrument Co.’s office, three floors below the Weather Bureau office, recorded an increase of 0.050 inch and immediately thereafter showed a reaction of 0.015 inch below the original pressure at the time of the explosion.”  (Brotzman, W. S. “Damaging Gas Explosion at Pittsburgh, PA.” Monthly Weather Review, Nov 1927, 500.)

Newspaper

 

Nov 14: “Pittsburgh, Nov. 14 – INS – With the streets jammed with thousands of persons going to work, a terrific explosion at the Equitable Gas Company’s Reedsdale street plant on the North Side rocked the city today, leaving in its wake a trail of dead and injured. At noon police stated that the known toll of dead stood at 20…. There was a staggering list of injured. A survey of the largest hospitals showed that 136 injured persons had been treated up to noon….

 

“A huge natural gas storage tank exploded at 8:43 a.m., but officials of the Gas Company were at a loss to explain what caused the blast.

 

“City officials described it as one of Pittsburgh’s major disasters. There was not a building in the downtown area but what was shaken by the terrific concussion, and a shower of window glass endangered the lives of pedestrians in the streets.

 

“Telephone communication was paralyzed by the thousands of calls from relatives and friends of persons in the vicinity when the blast occurred. There were far too few ambulances and physicians.  Trucks, taxicabs, police patrols and all types of vehicles were pressed into service to carry the injured to hospitals.

 

“The huge tank was of 5,000,000 cubic feet capacity and was one of three in the Reedsdale street plant.  The other tanks were not affected.

 

“One theory that police investigated as the possible cause of the explosion was that workmen repairing the tank ignited the gas with an acetylene torch, believing that the tank was empty. The workmen were in the employ of the Riter-Conley Company, builders.

 

Ten City Workmen Killed

 

“Witnesses said the large tank, which stood 75 feet above the ground, rose high in the air and exploded. There was a puff of smoke, then the sky was illuminated by a big ball of fire and the remnants of the tank crashed to the ground.

 

“The city’s asphalt plant across the street was demolished and 10 of the 15 workmen lost their lives, according to reports.  Six buildings of the Union Paint Company  were crushed like eggshells.  The walls were blown in, imprisoning workmen.

 

“Every piece of fire equipment in the downtown district was rushed to the gas plant, but firemen soon turned their attention from the smouldering ruins to aid in caring for the victims who lay prostrate in the street or buried beneath tons of debris…”(New Castle News, PA.  “Fear 20 Dead in Pittsburgh as Big Gas Tank Explodes.” 11-14-1927, 1)

 

Wikipedia: “The Pittsburgh gasometer explosion, or Equitable Gas explosion, was a bizarre accident that took place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on the morning of November 14, 1927.[1] A huge cylindrical gasometer, the largest in the world at that time, developed a leak, and repairmen were sent to fix it. The repairmen used an open flame blowtorch to find the leak.[2] This turned out to be a serious mistake. The leak was found, but the tank full of natural gas then floated into the air like a balloon and exploded, causing a rain of fire and metal over a one mile radius. 28 people were killed and hundreds were injured. (Wikipedia. “1927 Pittsburgh gas explosion.” 3-2-2012 modification.)

Sources

 

Brotzman, W. S. “Damaging Gas Explosion at Pittsburgh, PA.” Monthly Weather Review, Nov 1927, 500. Accessed 3-29-2012: http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/mwr/055/mwr-055-11-0500a.pdf

 

National Fire Protection Association.  Fire Protection Handbook (11th Ed.). 1954.

 

New Castle News, PA. “Fear 20 Dead in Pittsburgh as Big Gas Tank Explodes.” 11-14-1927, 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=56889327

 

Walker, John. Disasters. Chicago: Follett Publishing Co., 1973.

 

Wikipedia. “1927 Pittsburgh gas explosion.” 3-2-2012 modification. Accessed at:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1927_Pittsburgh_gas_explosion

 

 

[1] Cites: Brotzman, W. S. (25 January 1928). “Damaging Gas Explosion At Pittsburgh, PA.”. Monthly Weather Review (Weather Bureau) 55 (11): 500.

[2] Cites: Sebak, Rick (November 2006). “One morning, the North Side exploded”. Pittsburgh Magazine. WQED Pittsburgh. Archived from the original on 2008-01-10.