1947 — Aug 5, Road Collision and Fire, Gasoline and Laborer Trucks, Waxahachie, TX–19

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard 10-12-2023 for upload to: https://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

 

—  21  National Fire Protect. Assoc. Spreadsheet on Large Loss of Life Fires (as of Feb 2003).[1]

—  20  Daily Mail, Hagerstown, MD. “Truck is Funeral Pyre for Twenty,” August 8, 1947, 4.[2]

—  20  Mexia Herald, TX. “Twenty…Die in Gasoline Truck Crash at Waxahachie.” 8-8-1947, 10

—  19  Brownsville Herald, TX. “Trucks Collide, Burn, Kill 19, Block Roads.” 8-5-1947, p. 1.

—  19  Cox, Mike. Texas Disasters: True Stories of Tragedy and Survival. 2006, pp. 222-223.

—  19  Evening Journal. “Nineteen Persons…Killed in Waxahachie Truck Tragedy,” 8-6-1947.   

—  19  Lubbock Morning Avalanche, TX. “19 Perish in Fiery Texas Truck Crash.” 8-6-1947, p. 1.

—  19  NFPA. “Fires Causing Large Loss of Life.” Handbook of Fire. 1954, p. 35.

—  19  Star-Telegram, Fort Worth. “Bus in crash…on road illegally; 16th persons dies.” 8-9-2008.

—  19  Waxahachie Sun (Sackett), TX. “8/47 Memorial erected to honor crash victims.” 3-3-2020.

—  18  Amarillo Sunday News-Globe, TX. “Fund Will Aid Negro Survivors.” 8-24-1947, 14.[3]

—  18  Mexia Daily News, TX. “Waxahachie…Fund Shows Total of $1,591.” 8-17-1947, 5.[4]

 

Narrative Information

 

National Fire Protection Association: “…Aug. 5, 1947. Waxahachie, Tex., Tank Semi-Trailer: Tank truck rounded curve and pulled over on left side of highway striking head-on a 1 1/2-ton truck carrying 18 persons. Saddle tank of tractor ruptured by impact and fire spread to 4,000-gallon tank trailer. Nineteen persons killed…” (National Fire Protection Association. “Gasoline Tank Truck Fire Record.” Quarterly of the NFPA, Vol. 45, No. 3, January 1952, p. 207.)

 

Newspapers

 

Aug 5, AP: “Waxahachie, Tex., Aug. 5 – (AP) – Nineteen bodies have been recovered and three or four more may be pinned in the twisted, smoldering wreckage of two trucks that collided and burst into fatal flames near here at dawn today. Four others are in local hospitals, their conditions termed critical. Eighteen of the dead were reported to be Negro construction workers on their way to Dallas. An unidentified white man was the other victim. He was the driver of a gasoline truck involved in the crash, worst 1947 traffic accident in Texas. The accident occurred at 6:15 a.m. on a slight curve north of here. The highway is the main artery between Waco and Dallas. Flames from the trucks forced officials to close the highway, and detour traffic. Cause of the collision has not been determined.

 

“W. C. Brickell, Waxahachie, who lives 100 yards from the scene, said: ‘I heard a loud crash about 6:15 a.m. Then there was a loud mumbling like thunder. I ran out to see the two trucks already blazing. The impact of collision threw the body of one Negro 55 yards toward my house.  The tank truck was filled with gasoline. I saw it running out like water.’ Brickell telephoned for help.

 

“Ambulances from both Ennis and Waxahachie made numerous runs to the crash scene, first taking bodies to mortuaries, later to a hastily improvised morgue in a Negro theater here. The Red Cross began calling for embalmers….to aid Ellis county officers. Deputy Sheriff Willis Cox of Ellis county described the scene as ‘terrible.’ Pat Boze, ambulance driver of the Saxon-Boze-Mitchell Funeral Home, said at least two bodies still were under one of the trucks.

 

“Officers finally shot bullet holes in the tank to cause it to burn out. Flames continued for about six hours, hindering rescue work and traffic….” (Brownsville Herald, TX. “Trucks Collide, Burn, Kill 19, Block Roads.” 8-5-1947, p. 1.)

 

Aug 5, AP: “Waxahachie, Aug 5 (AP) – Eighteen negro construction hands, who rode from their homes here to their jobs in Dallas for 75 cents a roundtrip, and the white driver of a gasoline truck were dead tonight in Texas’ worst 1947 highway accident. At least four of the bodies remained unidentified tonight at two negro funeral homes here. The 19 lost their lives, when the gasoline truck, bound for Waco, and a truck carrying the laborers to work collided four miles north of here early today. Soon after the crash, a matter of seconds, the gasoline truck caught fire and flames enveloped the wreckage of both trucks, trapping all but four who survived….

 

“Actual witness in the collision was O. M. Cain of Dallas, who was driving in his car behind the truck loaded with workers. He said the truck pulled out in the middle of the road to pass a car, but found itself in the path of the gasoline truck. ‘Both trucks then zig-zagged wildly instants before the crash as the drivers tried to avoid a collision,’ he said.  He said ‘it was like two people who after meeting tried to side-step each other several times only to find themselves face to face.’….

 

“Robinson was one of several truck owners here who regularly carried laborers to their jobs in Dallas for a fee, his wife said…” (Lubbock Morning Avalanche, TX. “19 Perish in Fiery Texas Truck Crash.” 8-6-1947, p. 1.)

 

Aug 5, UP: “Waxahachie, Tex., Aug. 5 – (UP) — Twenty persons, including 18 negro laborers, met a flaming death early today when a truck in which they were riding collided near here with, a loaded gasoline truck. Police said others still were pinned beneath the overturned flaming vehicles. Four negroes survived and were hospitalized, three of them seriously injured. The laborers were en route to work in Dallas when the accident occurred about 6:15 a. m. three miles north of here on U. S. Highway 75-77.

 

“Sheriff Jess Cariker of Ellis County said witnesses told him Morris Robertson, driver of the laborers’ truck, was trying to pass another car but was unable to maneuver around it and swerved into the path of the oncoming gasoline truck.

 

“Officers, including Waxahachie Police, Dallas sheriffs and state patrolmen, blamed panic on the

high death toll. The panic-stricken negroes, in an attempt to escape the sheets of flame rising from the spilled crawled directly into the flames. ‘If they had crawled north instead of east, most of them could have escaped,’ said Clovis P. Mitchell of the Boze-Saxon-Mitchell Funeral Home, the first person at the scene.

 

“An estimated 1,000 persons, including bereaved members of the victims’ families, stood in the burning sun, watching officers recover the smouldering bodies, one of them burned beyond recognition.” (Mexia Weekly Herald, TX. “Twenty Persons Die in Gasoline Truck Crash at Waxahachie.” 8-8-1947, p. 10.)

 

Aug 6, AP: “Waxahachie, Aug 6 (AP)  Nineteen persons, 18 of them …construction hands, were dead today following a collision between a gasoline tuck and a truck carrying the laborers….The gasoline truck, headed for Waco, burst into flames seconds after the accident, which occurred four miles north of here early yesterday as the laborers were on their way to work in Dallas….[a witness] said he was driving in his car behind the truck loaded with workers when the vehicle pulled out in the middle of the road to pass a car but found itself in the path of the gasoline truck. ‘Both trucks then zig-zagged wildly instants before the crash as the drivers tried to avoid a collision’.” (Evening Journal, Lubbock, TX. “Nineteen Persons Are Killed in Waxahachie Truck Tragedy,” August 6, 1947, p. 5.)  [Both drivers were among the fatalities.]

 

Aug 8: “Twenty persons, nineteen of them…laborers, died in this [reference to photo] crash of a gasoline truck and a vehicle which was transporting the laborers near Waxahachie, Texas. The gasoline cargo of the tank truck burst into flames immediately after the collision and the terrific heat prevented rescue work. Only four persons survived.” (Daily Mail, Hagerstown, MD. “Truck is Funeral Pyre for Twenty,” August 8, 1947, p. 4.)

 

Aug 9, UP: “Fort Worth, Aug. 9. (UP) — Mrs. Florence Coffman enlisted the aid of police today in a search for her husband who has been missing since the traffic accident near Waxahachie last Tuesday. Mrs. Coffman thought her husband, Roland Lemoin Coffman, 29, might possibly have been riding with Marvin L. Walls, driver of the gasoline truck who lost his life along with 18 negro occupants of a second truck. ‘They were good friends,’ she said, and her husband might possibly have been planning to ride with Walls to Waco en route to San Marcos. Coffman had planned a trip there, she added. 

 

“There were reports that a second white man was seen in the gasoline transport, but authorities could not confirm it.” (Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, TX. “Woman Reports that Husband is Missing After Accident.” 8-10-1947, p. 9.)

 

Aug 24: “Opening of a two-week charity drive to provide funds for surviving families of the 18 Negro construction workers of Waxahachie, killed in a gasoline truck-bus collision, Aug. 5, was announced Saturday by Rev. M. J. Stewart, pastor of Mount Zion Baptist Church, and Rev. F. D. Crenshaw, pastor of, Johnson Chapel, AME Church. The Colored Ministerial Alliance of Amarillo is sponsoring the drive, which has a goal of $1,000. Individual canvassing for contributions will not be undertaken. Donations may be sent to Rev. H. L. Bolden, Alliance president and pastor of Carter’s Chapel CME Church, 412 West Second. ‘These families need help badly as the disaster, victims were the sole support of their dependents,’ said Rev. Stewart. Each man is survived by one to seven children. The majority possessed little or no life, insurance.

 

“Money obtained from the public appeal will be forwarded directly to The Waxahachie News, which is sponsoring a drive in that city. Distribution of Amarillo funds will be handled by the Waxahachie newspaper.” (Amarillo Sunday News-Globe, TX. “Fund Will Aid Negro Survivors.” 8-24-1947, p. 14.)

Sources

 

Amarillo Sunday News-Globe, TX. “Fund Will Aid Negro Survivors.” 8-24-1947, p. 14. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=78280696&sterm=waxahachie

 

Brownsville Herald, TX. “Trucks Collide, Burn, Kill 19, Block Roads.” 8-5-1947, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/the-brownsville-herald/1947-08-05/page-9/

 

Cox, Mike. Texas Disasters: True Stories of Tragedy and Survival. Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot Press, 2006.

 

Daily Mail, Hagerstown, MD. “Truck is Funeral Pyre for Twenty,” August 8, 1947, p. 4.  Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=79410707

 

Evening Journal, Lubbock, TX. “Nineteen Persons Are Killed in Waxahachie Truck Tragedy,” 8-6-1947, p. 5. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=107874929

 

Lubbock Morning Avalanche, TX. “19 Perish in Fiery Texas Truck Crash.” 8-6-1947, p. 1. Accessed at:  http://newspaperarchive.com/morning-avalanche/1947-08-06/page-1/

 

Mexia Weekly Herald, TX. “Twenty Persons Die in Gasoline Truck Crash at Waxahachie.” 8-8-1947, 10. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/the-mexia-weekly-herald/1947-08-08/page-10/

 

Mexia Daily News, TX. “Waxahachie Negro Relief Fund Shows Total of $1,591.” 8-17-1947, p. 5. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=127557197&sterm=waxahachie

 

National Fire Protection Association.  “Fires Causing Large Loss of Life.” Handbook of Fire Protection (11th Ed.).  Boston, MA: NFPA, 1954, pp. 33-36.

 

National Fire Protection Association. “Gasoline Tank Truck Fire Record.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 45, No. 3, January 1952, p. 207.

 

National Fire Protection Association. Spreadsheet on Large Loss of Life Fires (as of Feb 2003). (Email attachment to B. W. Blanchard from Jacob Ratliff, NFPA Archivist/Taxonomy Librarian, 7-8-2013.)

 

Star-Telegram, Fort Worth, TX. “Bus in crash was on road illegally; 16th persons dies.” 8-9-2008. Accessed at:  http://www.saferoads.org/bus-crash-was-road-illegally-16th-person-dies

 

Waxahachie Sun (Mike Sackett), TX. “8/47 Memorial erected to honor crash victims.” 3-3-2020. Accessed 10-12-2023 at: https://www.waxahachiesun.com/news/local/8-47-memorial-erected-to-honor-crash-victims/article_fd74b658-5db2-11ea-bf58-8b82aad902b3.html

 

 

 

 

[1] We assume the inaccurate twenty-one fatality figure derives from an early newspaper report.

[2] Later reporting, followed out to end of August, consistently notes 18 black laborer deaths and one white death.

[3] The story is about a relief fund for the 18 black fatalities. There was one white fatality also.

[4] The story is about a relief fund for the 18 black fatalities. There was one white fatality also.