1954 — Dec 24, kerosene thrown in stove, explosion/fire, tenant farmhouse ~Parkin, AR–13

— 13 Hattiesburg American, MS. “13th Arkansas Fire Victim Dies.” 1-5-1955, p. 1.
— 13 National Fire Protection Assoc. Spreadsheet on Large Loss of Life Fires (as of Feb 2003).
— 12 Evening Telegram, Rocky Mount, NC. “Accidents Pass Figure Set by…” 12-27-1954, 1.
— 12 Titusville Herald, PA. “Mass Funeral Held for 12 Fire Victims.” 12-28-1954, p. 1.
— 11 Billings Gazette, MT. “Tenement Fire Takes 11 Lives.” 12-26-1954, p. 1.
— 11 National Fire Protection Assoc. “Editorials.” Quarterly, Vol. 48, No. 3, Jan 1955, p. 193.
— 11 Ogden Standard-Examiner, UT. “Stove Blast Kills 11 in Arkansas.” 12-25-1954, p. 1.
— 11 Paris News, TX. “Yule Day Fire Sweeps Tenant.” 12-26-1954, p. 1.

Narrative Information

National Fire Protection Association: “…on Christmas day [eve] ten children and one adult died…fiery death…in a house in Arkansas!” (National Fire Protection Association “Editorials.” Quarterly, Vol. 48, No. 3, Jan 1955, p. 193.)

Newspapers

Dec 25: “Parkin, Ark. (UP) – A Christmas Eve party involving two Mexican farm families preparing hot tamales, ended in a kerosene stove explosion, killing 11 persons. Five members of the tenant farm families were injured in the explosion.

“Authorities said the Ruel Montana and Pete Santana families were firing up the stove to prepare hot tamales for their Christmas Eve celebration.” (Ogden Standard-Examiner, UT. “Stove Blast Kills 11 in Arkansas.” 12-25-1954, p. 1.)

Dec 25: “….The dead were identified as Mrs. Pete Santana, 32, and her children, Jolly (a girl) 9; Pete Jr. 5; Sophie 4; Mando 2; and Jimmy, five months; and five children of Mr. and Mrs. Ruel Montana: Robert 7; Elma 6; Gloria 5; Rosie 3; and Rudy 1.” (Paris News, TX. “Yule Day Fire Sweeps Tenant.” 12-26-1954, p. 1.)

Dec 26: “Parkin, Ark. (AP) – Fire touched off by an exploding stove raged through a frame tenant house near here Christmas eve, killing 11 persons and injuring five others. The dead and injured were members of two Mexican farm families who were celebrating the holiday by cooking hot tamales over their wood-burning kitchen stove.

“Ten children and one of the mothers were killed in the blaze, which apparently was touched off when kerosene was thrown on the smouldering stove fire. Most of the bodies were charred beyond recognition. The dead were identified as Mrs. Pete Santana, 32, and her five children, ages 9 years o 5 months, and five children of Mr. and Mrs. Ruel Montana. Surviving the blast were the two fathers, Mrs. Montana and one child from each family. They said Santana’s wife had escaped with them but died when she ran back into the flaming house in an attempt to rescue her smallest son.

“Scene of the tragedy was a small tenant house on a cotton plantation about 10 miles south of here.

“Montana and one of his sons were taken to a Memphis hospital in serious condition. Santana was reported in serious condition at the nearby Wynne, Ark., hospital. His surviving daughter, Mary Ann, 14 was treated at the hospital and dismissed.” (Billings Gazette, MT. “Tenement Fire Takes 11 Lives.” 12-26-1954, p. 1.)

Dec 27: “…The weekend’s most costly tragedy…had nothing to do with motoring. It was a flash-fire Friday evening in the crowded kitchen of a tenant farmhouse near Parkin, Ark., which took 12 lives. The victims were members of two families. They died because a dormant wood stove fire was primed with a splash of kerosene.” (Evening Telegram, Rocky Mount, NC. “Accidents Pass Figure Set by Safety Council.” 12-27-1954, p. 1.)

Dec 27: “West Memphis, Ark., Dec 27 (AP) – A mass funeral was held today for two adults and 10 children killed by fire on Christmas Eve.

“When kerosene was sloshed into the kitchen stove to kindle a fire, smouldering coals touched off an explosion that spewed flaming fuel over 16 persons.

“It was the deadliest accident of the Christmas weekend. Two survivors, Raul Montana, 47, and Albert Santana, 11, remain in critical condition at a Memphis hospital.

“The dead were all members of two Mexican farm families who had gathered to cook hot tamales over their wood-burning kitchen stove in a tenant house near Parkin, Ark.” (Titusville Herald, PA. “Mass Funeral Held for 12 Fire Victims.” 12-28-1954, p. 1.)

Jan 5: “Memphis, Tenn. (AP) – The splash of kerosene that resulted in the death of 10 children and 2 adults last Christmas Eve in the nation’s worst holiday disaster claimed its 13th victim last night. Raoul Montana, 47, died of burns in a Memphis hospital. Another survivor, Albert Santana, 11, remains in critical condition.

“The kerosene was sloshed into the kitchen stove at a plantation tenant house near Parking, Ark. Smouldering coals beneath the ashes touched off an explosion that spewed flaming fuel over 16 persons. Parkin is about 25 miles west of here.” (Hattiesburg American, MS. “13th Arkansas Fire Victim Dies.” 1-5-1955, p. 1.)

Sources

Billings Gazette, MT. “Tenement Fire Takes 11 Lives.” 12-26-1954, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=66108242&sterm=parkin+fire

Evening Telegram, Rocky Mount, NC. “Accidents Pass Figure Set by Safety Council.” 12-27-1954, 1. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=188252958&sterm=parkin

Hattiesburg American, MS. “13th Arkansas Fire Victim Dies.” 1-5-1955, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=185131658&sterm

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.)

National Fire Protection Association. “Editorials. Still Our Greatest Human Challenge!” Quarterly, Vol. 48, No. 3, Jan 1955, p. 193.

Ogden Standard-Examiner, UT. “Stove Blast Kills 11 in Arkansas.” 12-25-1954, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=63605350&sterm=parkin+fire

Paris News, TX. “Yule Day Fire Sweeps Tenant.” 12-26-1954, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=112991484

Titusville Herald, PA. “Mass Funeral Held for 12 Fire Victims.” 12-28-1954, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=105921759&sterm=parkin+fire+santana