1946 — Oct 3, explosions/fire, alkylation unit fractionating tower, Sun Oil Co., Marcus Hook, PA–10

Compiled 11-1-2022 by Wayne Blanchard for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–10  INS. “Death Toll Ten in Marcus Hook Refinery Blaze.” New Castle News, PA, 10-8-1946, p.9.

—  8  National Fire Protection Assoc. “Large Loss Fires of 1946.” Quarterly, 40/3, Jan 1947, p239.

Narrative Information

National Fire Protection Association: “Oct. 3, Marcus Hook, Pa. Refinery – Alkylation Unit.

“Six company employees and 2 volunteer firemen were burned to death, and more than 100 persons were injured, when explosions and fire destroyed the No. 3 alkylation unit and a fractionating tower of the Sun Oil Company’s aviation gasoline cracking plant. Shortly before 6:00 p.m., 2 explosions set the unit afire….” (NFPA Quarterly Jan 1947, pp. 239-240.)

Newspapers

Oct 4: “Seven men were burned to death and at least 200 others were injured, many of them critically, in Delaware County’s worst disaster since the Eddystone ammunition blast as a $300,000 fire raged through the Sun Oil Company’s new aviation gasoline cracking plant at Marcus Hook last night. Nine explosions, one of them so tremendous that it sent a huge mushroom-shaped ball of flame skyward for several hundred feet, shook the countryside for miles around as scores of volunteer firemen and company workmen fought against terrific odds to bring the holocaust under control.

 

“The worst explosion occurred at 7:10 p.m., an hour after the fire first broke out, and accounted for most of the deaths and injuries when a fractionating tower blew up and showered a fiery bath of high-test gasoline on firemen and employes.

 

The dead: [We alphabetize with numbering and add in brackets additions from other sources.]

 

  1. Mike Burke, 39 Evans Place                 Chester
  2. Griffith Davis, 50             Madison Street            Chester
  3. [Clarence Fox, 40 8th fatality; Oct 6.]
  4. William Gallagher, 48 Bethel Road                Twin Oaks
  5. Dewitt Haynie, 44             Bullens Lane               Woodlyn
  6. Woodburn James, 47             Franklin Street            Claymont
  7. Glen Jones, 33             Ward Street                 Linwood
  8. [Vincent Keelan, 32 9th victim, a fireman      Linwood (died Oct 6)
  9. [Joseph C. Tinsley, Sr., 64 10th victim                   Linwood (at Chester hosp.)]
  10. William Ward, 20 Ward Street                 Linwood

 

“White-hot chunks of metal were hurled through the air like shrapnel when the tower exploded, felling men by the dozen and causing over a thousand dollars’ damage to the Linwood Fire Company pumper. The apparatus was punctured all over and was set afire.

 

“Men most seriously burned were those who were caught facing the tower when it went up. Several inhaled flame and smoke before they could turn away.

 

“An eight man died when he fell into the Delaware River from a tugboat and it was at first reported that he was blown overboard by the blast. Police learned later, however, that the victim – who was identified as Leland Biley, 48, of Laurel, Md. – toppled into the river shortly before the first explosion occurred.

 

“A break in a packing gland on a pump in the alkylation unit of No. 15 Plant was blamed for touching off the catastrophe a few minutes after 7 p.m. Liquid seeped from the pump and was ignited by a nearby heater. Two sharp explosions resulted and set the unit afire….” (Chester Times, PA. “Sun Oil Toll – 7 Dead, 200 Hurt. Hospitals Jammed by Disaster. Flaming Gasoline Sprays Hundreds at Hook Refinery.” 10-4-1946, p. 1.)

 

Oct 6: “Marcus Hook, Oct. 6 – (AP) – The death toll of Thursday night’s fire and explosions at the Sun Oil Company refinery stood at eight today following the death of Clarence Fox, 40-year-old mechanic. Fox died yesterday as several persons injured in the fire were discharged from hospitals. Thirty-six of the more than 140 persons hurt remain as patients, two being listed as in critical condition.

 

“Charles W. Taylor, district fire marshal of the Pennsylvania state police, said his investigation of the fire and explosions found ‘no evidence of carelessness or anything to warrant criminal prosecution.’” (Associated Press. “Death Toll of Sun Oil Blast 8.” Somerset Daily American, PA. 10-7-1946, p. 1.)

 

Oct 8: “Chester, Pa., Oct. 8. – (INS) – The death of Joseph C. Tinsley, Sr., 64, of Linwood, today boosted to ten the total of fatalities in Thursday night’s explosion and fire at the Sun Oil refinery in nearby Marcus Hook. Tinsley succumbed to burns at Chester hospital. He is a native of Greensboro, Md., and will be buried there. The ninth victim – Vincent Keelan, 32, a Linwood fireman, died Sunday. Nearly two hundred other persons were injured in the $300,000 blaze which swept a $13 million aviation gasoline unit at the refinery.” (INS. “Death Toll Ten In Marcus Hook Refinery Blaze.” New Castle News, PA, 10-8-1946, p. 9.)

 

Sources

 

Associated Press. “Death Toll of Sun Oil Blast 8.” Somerset Daily American, PA. 10-7-1946, p. 1. Accessed 11-1-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/somerset-daily-american-oct-07-1946-p-1/

 

Chester Times, PA. “Sun Oil Toll – 7 Dead, 200 Hurt. Hospitals Jammed by Disaster. Flaming Gasoline Sprays Hundreds at Hook Refinery.” 10-4-1946, p. 1. Accessed 11-1-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/chester-times-oct-04-1946-p-1/

 

INS. “Death Toll Ten In Marcus Hook Refinery Blaze.” New Castle News, PA, 10-8-1946, p. 9. Accessed 11-1-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/new-castle-news-oct-08-1946-p-9/

 

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. (pp. 246-247)