1953 — Sep 23, Explosions (4) Destroy Organic Peroxides Plant, Tonawanda, NY — 11

–11 Galveston Daily News, TX. “Chemical Plant Burns,” Sep 25, 1953, p. 1.
–11 Mannan. Lee’s Loss Prevention in the Process Industries (Vol. 1, 3rd Ed.), 2005, p. 1-10.
–11 NFPA. “Major Manufacturing Losses in 1953.” Quarterly of…, V47, N3, Jan 1954, p240.

Narrative Information

National Fire Protection Association: “Sept. 23, Town of Tonawanda, N.Y. Lucidol Division of Novadel-Agene Corp., $550,000, 11 killed.

“Benzoyl peroxide and other organic perox¬ides. Four violent explosions at 25-minute intervals leveled the 1.-story, brick, wood-¬joisted plant, demolished twelve dwellings in a nearby housing project and badly damaged several others. Twenty-seven persons were injured. The deaths of all occupants of the building and the complete destruction of the plant prevented determination of the prob¬able cause of the blasts.” (National Fire Protection Association. “Major Manufacturing Losses in 1953.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 47, No. 3, Jan 1954, p. 240.)

Newspapers

Sep 23, Associated Press: “Tonawanda. Sept. 23 (AP)—At least 10 men were killed today as a series of four explosions blew to bits a chemical plant building here and rocked the northern suburbs of Buffalo. Twenty-seven persons were injured. The 10th body was recovered early this evening….

“[The]…company president denied earlier reports that liquid hydrogen had exploded. He said ‘no hydrogen gas or liquid hydrogen was on the premises’. He said the firm had not yet determined what exploded, or how it happened.” (Post-Standard (Syracuse). “10 Die After Explosions Rip Plant at Tonawanda,” 9/24/1953, p. 1.)

Sep 23: “Tonawanda (AP).—At least nine men were killed today when four deafening explosions ripped through one building of a small chemical plant between here and Buffalo. [The]…chief of Cheridan Park Fire Department, said the bodies of all nine had been recovered from the smoldering wreckage of the building, owned by the Lucidol Division of the Novadel-Agene Corporation. [The Chief] said he feared other bodies might be found in the ruins. [The’ chief of the Town of Tonawanda police department, said he was told there were 12 men in the building at the time of the first blast. [The Police Chief] said a group of steam-fitters had just left the building before it was ripped to shreds.

“The plant is used for the manufacture of a floor bleaching material….Authorities said they had difficulty determining the number of dead because some of the bodies had been torn apart by the force of the explosions. Flames hot skyward under a towering pillar of smoke that spread for miles over the Town of Tonawanda residential area north of the Buffalo city line.

“Police said the explosions were in chemical storage tanks, probably containing liquid hydrogen….” (Syracuse Herald Journal, NY. “Nine Die in Blast at Tonawanda,” 9-23-1953, 49.)

Sources

Galveston Daily News, TX. “Chemical Plant Burns,” Sep 25, 1953, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=45139533

Mannan, Sam (Ed.). Lee’s Loss Prevention in the Process Industries: Hazard Identification, Assessment and Control (3rd Ed., 3 Vols.). Burlington, MA: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, 2005

National Fire Protection Association. “Major Manufacturing Losses in 1953.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 47, No. 3, Jan 1954, pp. 236-267.

Post-Standard, Syracuse, NY. “10 Die After Explosions Rip Plant at Tonawanda,” Sep 24, 1953, p. 1. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=22438113

Syracuse Herald-Journal, NY. “Nine Die in Blast at Tonawanda,” Sep 23, 1953, p. 49. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=22882312