1950 — Mar 8, Sandia Secret Weapons Base prisoner jail fire, Albuquerque, NM — 15
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard, 8-29-2023, for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
— 15 Charleston Gazette, WV. “Deaths of 15 Occurred at ‘Safe’ Army Post.” 3-16-1950, p. 8.
— 15 Farmington Daily Times, NM. “Amnesia Hits…Man Who Survived Prison Fire.” 3-11-50
— 15 Farmington Daily Times, NM. “Fernandez Asks Safe Army Pens.” 3-13-1950, p. 1.
— 15 National Fire Protection Assoc. Spreadsheet on Large Loss of Life Fires (as of Feb 2003).
— 15 Santa Fe New Mexican. “Memory Returns, GI Recalls Sandia Fire.” 3-29-1950, p. 6.
— 15 Santa Fe New Mexican, NM. “Stoves Tested in Sandia Probe.” 3-14-1950, p. 10.
— 14 NFPA. “Fires Causing Large Loss of Life.” Handbook of Fire Protection. 1954, p. 36.
Narrative Information
Larson: “Donald Roy Hyde: Born about 1930 in Oklahoma; Died March 8, 1950, in a Sandia secret weapons prison fire in New Mexico (about age 20). Buried in Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery, San Diego, CA. He was listed as a recruit from Owasso, OK. He was a prisoner in the Sandia Guard House when a fire broke out, and died in the fire while in the jail cell. He was a Private at the time.” (Leigh Larson – Home Page. “William J. Hyde.” 5-20-2013 update.)
Newspapers
March 9: “Albuquerque, N.M., March 9 – (AP) – Oil-fed flames, leaping lightning fast through a Sandia base guardhouse, snuffed out the lives of 14 military prisoners last night. Trapped with them in the tinder-dry wood structure, the prison’s other two inmates were injured critically. It was the first major disaster in the history of the war-built installation — now a semi-secret assembly point for the atomic bomb.[1]
“Two guards, alerted by prisoners’ cries, vainly tried to rescue them from behind bars and meshed wire windows. They were overcome along with six others fighting the blaze. Twenty additional officers and men also were treated for smoke effects.
“Investigators said there was no doubt the fire started from one of two big oil stoves used to heat the prison. They still sought to determine how and why today.
“It was all over 25 minutes after the first alarm was sounded at 7:35 p. m. Thirteen of the prisoners apparently died in the first few seconds; the other succumbed two hours later at a hospital. Most of the victims were believed to have inhaled the intense, almost instantaneous heat and suffocated, Sandia authorities said. Guards reported there were few outcries to indicate any suffering long….
“Examination of the charred, dank smelling structure afterward…[disclosed] damage consisted principally of badly scorched ceilings and walls, mostly in a 100 foot, L-shaped corridor and three cell blocks. It appeared the fire flashed overhead in less time than it takes to tell. There are two doors in the structure, one at each end of the L.
“The prisoners had finished their evening meal a short time before. Some already were in bed, reading or sleeping. Bodies of two were found in a shower room; three others lay just outside the door.
“Personal effects littered their quarters, some scarcely touched by the blaze. Nearly a fourth of the two-tiered bunk beds were not even scorched. Several contained magazines, obviously dropped as their owners leaped up in alarm. Helmets and freshly shined shoes stood under some. Clothing, hung in head-high racks, generally was partly burned.
“Major Kolster[2] described five of the prison inmates as ‘bad bookies,’ jailed after conviction on serious charges by a military court. The others he labeled minor offenders. He declined to detail charges on which any were court-martialed.
“The two guards were the building’s only occupants besides the 16 prisoners. One, Cpl. Richard A. Miller, 27, of Stockton, Calif., was in the guardhouse office – at the opposite end of the building from the flaming stove – when fire was discovered. The other, Pvt. Wilbur Henry, 22, of South Zanesville, O., was walking back to the office midway along the corridor. He had passed the stove five minutes before. Both were overcome by smoke…
“Condition of the injured prisoners – Pfc. Robert [unclear], 20, of Minneapolis, and Pvt. Harry C. Handley, 24, of Hamilton, Ohio – remained grave this morning, authorities reported. Both were in oxygen tents.
“Newsmen were told neither the injured prisoners nor the guards could be interviewed.
“The provost marshal, Lt. Col. Ralph Tolve, and post police and prison officer Lt. Stephen H. Perry, and four unidentified civilian firemen also were overcome by smoke.
“Kolster reported a representative of the provost marshal general’s office in Washington inspected the base less than a month ago and pronounced all buildings, including the prison, in excellent condition from a safety standpoint.
“Sandia is a field installation of the armed forces special weapons project. It works closely with Los Alamos atomic installation, 90 miles to the north…” (Hobbs Daily News, NM. “Sandia Base Fire Kills 14. Flames Rake Guard House at AEC Field.” 3-9-1950, p. 1.)
March 9. AP: “Albuquerque, N.M., March 9 – (AP) – Oil-fed flames, leaping lightning fast through a Sandia base guardhouse, snuffed out the lives of 14 military prisoners last night. Trapped with them in the tinder-dry wood structure, the prison’s other two inmates were injured critically. It was the first major disaster in the history of the war-built installation – now a semi-secret assembly-point for the atomic bomb.
Two guards, alerted by prisoners’ cries, vainly tried to rescue them from behind bars and meshed wire windows. They were overcome along with six others fighting the blaze. Twenty additional officers and men also were treated for smoke effects. Desperate rescuers even tried to batter a path to fire-trapped prisoners with a truck.
“A military police officer…told about the futile effort from the hospital today:
‘I saw Master Sgt. Warren J. Yeast back off and ram the burning guardhouse at least three times with a 2 ½ ton truck. He finally got a hole knocked in the east wall, but it didn’t do any good – there was too much smoke and steam. I also tried to crawl down the hall from the office (which did not burn), but the steam was blinding. They had turned on the showers (in the prisoners’ quarters). I couldn’t make it.’
“Investigators said there was no doubt the fire started from one of two big oil stoves used to heat the prison. They still sought to determine how and why today. It was all over 25 minutes after the first alarm was sounded at 7:35 p.m. (MST). Thirteen of the prisoners apparently died in the first few seconds; the other succumbed two hours later at a hospital. Most of the victims were believed to have inhaled the intense and almost instantaneous heat, and suffocated, Sandia authorities said. Guards reported there were few outcries to indicate any suffered long. Contrary to fires reports…Sandia’s intelligence officer said there was no evidence of an explosion.
“Examination of the charred, dank smelling structure afterward bore him out. Damage consisted principally of badly scorched ceilings and walls, mostly in a 100-foot, L-shaped corridor and three cell blocks. It appeared the fire flashed overhead in less time than it takes to tell.” (Jefferson City Post-Tribune, MO. “14 Die as Fire Races Through Military Prison,” 3-9-1950, p. 1.)
March 10: “With the millions of dollars that have been, are being, and will be spent on the Atomic Energy Commission installation at Sandia Base, Albuquerque, it is difficult to understand why men should have been confined behind bars in a building which proved to be a fire trap. From descriptions, the guardhouse which was swept by fire, killing 14 soldiers, was an old temporary barracks. It had two doors, one at either end of the L-shaped building. But escape for the prisoners was cut off by heavy mesh wire and iron bars.
“Another of the interminable “official investigations” has begun. These investigations always follow crashes of military planes and such, and nothing ever seem to come of them. This investigation should be thorough, and not a whitewash of the provost marshal’s department.” (Hobbs Daily News-Sun, NM. “Full Investigation Required” (editorial). 3-10-1950, p. 4.)
March 10, AP: “Albuquerque, March 10 (AP). Experts are studying a possibility that an all-day dust storm early this week indirectly caused a flash fire which killed 14 guardhouse prisoners. H. C. Watson of Denver, an investigator for the National Board of Fire Underwriters, said he will
look into the chance that the fire resulted from a sand-clogged oil heater valve.
“No comment came from other probers into the fire Wednesday night at the Sandia Secret Weapons Base. Watson emphasized he had not yet delved into that angle. Sixteen men — all military personnel — were trapped behind bars when the fire roared through the wooden guardhouse.
“Guards and fire fighters failed in frantic efforts to free the victims. Rescuers were thwarted in part by live steam as the prisoners desperately tried to save themselves by turning on the showers. Watson expressed interest in similarity between the Sandia fire and a second one four hours later
in a small wooden sentry building at adjacent Kirtland Air Force base. The Kirtland fire was blamed on a float [unclear] valve clogged with sand and dust. This permitted fuel to overflow in an oil heater. The Albuquerque Journal said heaters in the Sandia and Kirtland structures were similar in design, although built by different firms. The newspaper said each had a self-contained fuel reservoir with a float valve to regulate the amount of oil fed the burner. Kirtland officials blamed the clogged valve on Monday’s dust storm, which some old timers here described as the worst in their memory. Winds averaged 45 miles an hour a good part of the day. The weather bureau reported the normal 80-mile visibility here cut by dust to about half a mile for several hours.” (Las Cruces Sun-News, NM. “Dust Might Have Caused Disaster.” 3-10-1950, p. 1.)
March 11, AP: “Albuquerque, March 11 (AP) — The only man who might know what took place in the last seconds before a secret weapons base guardhouse became a flaming death trap can’t remember. Investigators hope Pfc. Robert C. Darsnek, 20, of Minneapolis will recover from his amnesia and shed some light on what caused fire to roar through the wooden building at Sandia base.
“Fourteen prisoners died within minutes. The 15th victim—Pvt. Harry C. Handley, 23, of Hamilton, O. — died last night. His lungs were seared from breathing flame and smoke.
“Probers ruled out an oil heater as being the cause of the fire. Herbert C. Watson of Denver, investigator for the National Board of Fire Underwriters, said mechanism in the heater was dirty enough to have caused oil to overflow but he found no evidence that it had. With the stove and electric wiring eliminated as origins of the sudden fire, the experts are banking on Darsnek — the only man in the three cell blocks who survived — to help solve the mystery. Darsnek was semi- conscious for 24 hours. Reported out of danger now, he told doctors last night he knows who he is but cannot recall the fire or being in the guard-house. Doctors said his partial amnesia is common with victims of asphyxia.
“Darsnek owes his life to the ceaseless efforts of Mrs. William Home, wife of a Sandia base lieutenant. She is a registered nurse. When the blaze broke out, Mrs. Home was nearby. She applied artificial respiration to victims carried from the building. She labored 40 minutes over the apparently lifeless form of Darsnek until breathing was restored.” (Farmington Daily Times, NM. “Amnesia Hits Only Man Who Survived Prison Fire. Tragedy Claims 15th Fatality.” 3-11-1950, 1.)
March 13, AP: “Washington, March 13 (AP) — Rep. Fernandez (D-NM) today urged that the army be required to set up special safety standards for guard-houses in which military prisoners are held. With the recent tragic fire at Sandia Special weapon base in mind, Fernandez made the suggestion in a letter to Chairman Vinson (D-Ga) of the house armed services committee.
“Fifteen military prisoners lost their lives last week in the blaze at Sandia, outside Albuquerque. The congressman said he had been advised by army officers here that there are general safety standards for military buildings but that each post commander must handle details of the problem. “It appears that since it has not proven safe to leave the setting up and carrying out of general regulations up to the army, it would be well for your committee to recommend legislation setting up specific standards for buildings and conditions under which helpless men who are kept under lock and key may be safe from death,” he wrote.” (Farmington Daily Times, NM. “Fernandez Asks Safe Army Pens.” 3-13-1950, p. 1.)
March 14, AP: “Albuquerque, March 14. (AP) – Experts are experimenting with oil heaters, overheating and tipping them over, in their probe for the cause of the Sandia Base guard-house fire. A board of inquiry so far has been unable to determine source of the flash fire which brought death to 15 military prisoners last Wednesday. Col. Kenner F. Hertford said the board will investigate every angle.
“No prisoners were in the area where the heater was located, but the experts will test to see if the stove could have been tipped over with a long pole from the cells.” (Santa Fe New Mexican, NM. “Stoves Tested in Sandia Probe.” 3-14-1950, p. 10.)
March 15, AP: “Albuquerque, N.M., March 15 – (AP) – Two days before a guard-house fire killed 15 military prisoners, Sandia secret weapons base was rated fourth among Army installations for fire prevention methods. The certificate from the National Fire Underwriters, just received, was dated March 6. The Sandia guardhouse fire occurred March 8. A board of inquiry today interviewed its 63d witness in an exhaustive search for the cause of the fire.” (Charleston Gazette, WV. “Deaths of 15 Occurred at ‘Safe’ Army Post.” 3-16-1950, p. 8.)
March 29, UP: “Albuquerque, N.M., March 29. (UP) – A 20-year-old soldier told a grim tale of panic and screaming in the Sandia atomic weapons base guardhouse on the night 15 of his fellow-prisoners were killed in a fire. Pfc. Robert C. Darsnek, the only survivor of the fire which gutted the guardhouse March 8, recovered his memory yesterday for the first time since he was dragged from the burning building. His account of the fire, however, gave no further clues to its cause.
“The cell block was just comfortably warm…The first thing I knew someone started yelling ‘fire’ and I could smell smoke. The guard came in and tried to open the cell door across from mine. Everybody was screaming, and trying to get out. The guard had his back to me and suddenly he turned and ran out of the cell block.
“I could see that he had broken the key in the lock. I was screaming and yelling with the rest of them. Suddenly from down the hall there was a whoosh and I was knocked face down to the floor. I came to for a second afterwards, and then the lights went out.”
“A military board which has interviewed nearly 100 persons questioned Darsnek in hopes of learning the cause of the fire. Darsnek, who was serving a 30-day sentence for being AWOL was released from the Sandia base hospital today and will be transferred soon to Camp Carson. Colo.” (Santa Fe New Mexican. “Memory Returns, GI Recalls Sandia Fire.” 3-29-1950, p. 6.)
Sources
Charleston Gazette, WV. “Deaths of 15 Occurred at ‘Safe’ Army Post.” 3-16-1950, p. 8. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=40554382
Farmington Daily Times, NM. “Amnesia Hits Only Man Who Survived Prison Fire. Tragedy Claims 15th Fatality.” 3-11-1950, 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=191771613&sterm
Farmington Daily Times, NM. “Fernandez Asks Safe Army Pens.” 3-13-1950, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=191771615&sterm
Hobbs Daily News, NM. “Sandia Base Fire Kills 14. Flames Rake Guard House at AEC Field.” 3-9-1950, p. 1. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=81340932&sterm
Hobbs Daily News-Sun, NM. “Full Investigation Required.” 3-10-1950, p. 4. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=81340913&sterm
Jefferson City Post-Tribune (MO). “14 Die as Fire Races Through Military Prison,” March 9, 1950, p. 1. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=101223954
Las Cruces Sun-News, NM. “Dust Might Have Caused Disaster.” 3-10-1950, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=55183445&sterm
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. 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.)
Santa Fe New Mexican. “Memory Returns, GI Recalls Sandia Fire.” 3-29-1950, p. 6. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=120061763&sterm
Santa Fe New Mexican, NM. “Stoves Tested in Sandia Probe.” 3-14-1950, p. 10. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=50563914&sterm
[1] Part of the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project.
[2] Major Kenneth Kolster, Sandia’s intelligence officer.
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