1946 – June 21, Explosion (postulated as natural gas), Baker Hotel, Dallas, TX — 10
Latest edit 11-6-2023 by Wayne Blanchard for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
— 10 Country Beautiful Editors. Great Fires of America. 1975, p. 116.
— 10 Del Rio News Herald, TX. “Ammonia Blast Rocks Dallas Hotel.” 6-25-1946, p. 6.
— 10 NFPA. “Gas Explosions.” Quarterly of the [NFPA], Vol. 43, No. 4, April 1950, p. 295.
— 10 National Fire Protect. Assoc. “Large Loss Fires of 1946.” Quarterly, 40/3, Jan 1947, 223.
— 10 Ward. “Hotel Fires: Landmarks in Flames…,” Firehouse, March 1978, p. 41.[1]
Narrative Information
National Fire Protection Association, Gas Explosions: “Hotel, Dallas, Tex., June 21, 1946. A severe explosion in the basement of the 18-story Baker Hotel resulted in death to 10 persons and injury to more than 30 others. Remodeling work was being completed in the basement at 11:13 a.m. when the accident occurred. Two men were in a narrow concealed space above the commissary in which was located water, soil, ammonia and natural gas piping. Just prior to the explosion, a workman was plugging in an electric fan to dissipate heat and natural gas odors noted in the area. It is logically reasoned that this was the source of ignition and that natural gas rather than ammonia, sewer or other gases provided the destructive force. The blast caused extensive damage to the basement, the kitchen above, refrigerator and storerooms….” (NFPA. “Gas Explosions.” Quarterly of the [NFPA], Vol. 43, No. 4, April 1950, p. 295.)
National Fire Protection Association, Large Loss Fires of 1946 (June 21, Dallas Texas Hotel):
“An explosion in the basement of the 18-story Baker Hotel resulted in death to 10 persons and injury to more than 30 others, the majority being hotel employees. Work was being completed on the relocation of the commissary department in one corner of the basement, and, at the time of the blast (11:13 a.m.), 2 men were at work in a concealed, shallow space located above this area and having a volume of approximately 4,000 cubic feet. Many pipes ran through this space, including water, soil, ammonia, and natural gas. Testimony indicates that an undetermined type of gas, probably natural gas, accumulated in this confined space and was ignited by a spark from an unknown source. It is known that just prior to the explosion, one of the workers was plugging in an electric fan to dissipate heat and gas that was hampering the work. Extensive explosion damage was suffered in the basement and the kitchen above. Good housekeeping by hotel employees was cited as the main reason no fire of any consequence followed the blast. The loss is divided: $400,000 property damage; $35,000 business interruption loss; $100,000 liability for deaths ($10,000 per person).” (National Fire Protection Association. “Large Loss Fires of 1946.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 40, No. 3, Jan 1947, p. 223.)
Newspapers
June 21, Associated Press: “Dallas, June 21. – (AP) – Five persons are known dead, scores are injured, and rescue work continued here two hours after an explosion at the 600-room Baker Hotel rocked midtown Dallas shortly before noon today. Firemen, police and soldiers probed the shambles of the lower basement for possible victims. Firemen, working in gas masks because of the ammonia fumes, were hampered by pools of beer and food which made the floors slippery. The explosion occurred just under the hotel’s coffee shop and kitchen. Floors buckled, dumping the debris into the basement.
“The known dead have been identified as
William E. Cotton, purchasing agent of the hotel, who is believed to have been killed by falling debris in his office.
- P. Parker, assistant pastor of the New Zion Baptist Church.
Trinidad Lopez, of Malakoff, Tex., a hotel employe.
An unidentified woman.
An unidentified man.
“At least 38 ambulances rushed to the $5,000,000 Baker, one of the Southwest’s swankiest hotels. Downtown streets were blocked off as thousands of curious jammed the area, impeding rescue work. Dallas hospitals were crowded by the injured, many believed to be fatally hurt. Nearby Army and Navy installations rushed ambulances and doctors to aid the city’s doctors and nurses.
“Dense smoke poured out of the hotel, one of the largest in the Southwest, and forced firemen to don gas masks as raced to rescue the injured. At noon, injured were still being taken from the hotel and an adjoining parking lot, where many were injured when the blast hurled plate glass and lumber into passers-by.
“One man, pronounced dead upon arrival at Parkland Hospital, was tentatively identified as William E. Cotton, purchasing agent for the hotel. He was killed while sitting in his basement office. The body was pulled from the wreckage by Garland Mashburn, another employe….
“A bellhop who would not give his name said he saw the explosion from the basement, where he said it occurred. ‘I was taking a suit up to the sixth floor, and was just walking down the corridor of the basement when there was sudden explosion. Everything went black, and when I came to I was flat on my back. Everything was sort of smoky. I stumbled up to the first floor – I don’t know how—and the walls were buckled up there too.’ According to him, the explosion occurred in the basement under the coffee shop and the kitchen. He said it was lucky that the blast didn’t take place a half hour later, when the coffee shop would have been crowded with the noon-day jam….” (Denton Record Chronicle. “Five Killed, Many Hurt in Dallas Hotel Blast. Baker Rocked by Noon Explosion.” 6-21-1946, p. 1.)
June 21: “Dallas, Tex., June 21. (AP) – Seven were killed and 41 were injured, five critically, in a flash explosion that ripped the basement of the downtown 18-story, 700-room Baker Hotel here today. Cause of the blast, which occurred during installation of a new refrigeration unit in a sub-basement room, was unknown….The Baker blast, fourth major hotel disaster in 30 days, trembled downtown skyscrapers for blocks around. It was the worst explosion in Dallas’ history….
“Ninety-seven laundry department employes in the wrecked east basement room, many crawling on hands and knees with wet towels and blankets draped grotesquely over their heads, escaped….
“Some employes escaped through manholes. Guests from the upper floors were evacuated quickly and safely….No fire followed the Baker blast….No guests were seriously injured….” (Galveston Daily News, TX. “Seven Die in Dallas Hotel Blast. 41 Hurt in Basement Flash Explosion at Big Baker Hostelry.” 6-22-1946, p. 1.)
June 22: “Dallas, Tex., June 22. AP Dallas Fire Marshall B. C. Hilton said late today that gas accumulations of an undetermined type probably touched off the Baker Hotel basement explosion which killed eight persons and injured 41 others. Hilton said a closed investigation, attended only by witnesses and fire and hotel officials, had developed the belief that gas accumulation caused the blast yesterday which rocked the 700-room, 38-story structure and trembled skyscrapers throughout downtown Dallas. ‘Our investigation has just started,’ Hilton said. ‘It will take days and it could take weeks. All we know now is that an undetermined type of gas probably started the explosion…’” (Galveston Daily News, TX. “Accumulations of Gas Blamed for Hotel Explosion.” 6-23-1946, p. 1.)
June 25: “Dallas, June 25. – (AP) – W. C. Reed, 65, of Grand Prairie, died early today, the ninth fatality of the Baker Hotel explosion last Friday….Workmen still probed the debris for a possible tenth victim, but Fire Marshal B. C. Hilton today said a thorough search was made yesterday, and he doubted if another body was still trapped beneath the wreckage….Workmen are digging among the tons of shattered concrete and twisted structural steel in search of the body of a negro hotel employe missing since Friday.
“Last night Fire Marshal B. C. Hilton said the explosion was caused by a gas pocket between the top of the refrigerating rooms in the sub-basement and the ceiling of the basement of the hotel. He said the pocket of collected gas apparently was ignited by an electric arc, a flame or smouldering material. The type of gas in the pocket had not been determined. The investigation of the cause of the explosion continues.” (Corsicana Daily Sun, TX. “Dallas Hotel Blast Claims 9th Victim, Probe is Continued.” 6-25-1946, p. 1.)
June 25: “Dallas police revised the official death toll to 10 in a midday ammonia explosion which ripped through the basement of the swank 700-room Baker Hotel in downtown Dallas, Texas. Most of the injured and dead were employes and workers near the scene of the basement explosion…” (Del Rio News Herald, TX. “Ammonia Blast Rocks Dallas Hotel.” 6-25-1946, p. 6.)
Sources
Corsicana Daily Sun, TX. “Dallas Hotel Blast Claims 9th Victim, Probe is Continued.” 6-25-1946, p.1. http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=155499371&sterm=baker+hotel
Country Beautiful Editors. Great Fires of America. Waukesha, WI: Country Beautiful, 1973.
Del Rio News Herald, TX. “Ammonia Blast Rocks Dallas Hotel.” 6-25-1946, p. 6. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=112283935&sterm=baker+hotel
Denton Record Chronicle. “Five Killed, Many Hurt in Dallas Hotel Blast. Baker Rocked by Noon Explosion.” 6-21-1946, p. 1. http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=80026805&sterm
Galveston Daily News, TX. “Accumulations of Gas Blamed for Hotel Explosion.” 6-23-1946, p. 1. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=46132186&sterm=baker+hotel
Galveston Daily News, TX. “Seven Die in Dallas Hotel Blast. 41 Hurt…” 6-22-1946, p. 1. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=46132182&sterm=baker+hotel
National Fire Protection Association. “Gas Explosion at Villa Rica, Georgia.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 51, No. 3, Jan 1958, front piece.
National Fire Protection Association. “Large Loss Fires of 1946.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 40, No. 3, Jan 1947, pp. 179-248.
Ward, Neale. “Hotel Fires: Landmarks in Flames, History’s Famous Hotel Fires,” Firehouse, March 1978, pp. 40-45.
[1] However, this was an explosion, not a fire.