1972 — Dec 9, natural gas leak explosion, two buildings collapse, downtown Clinton, MO–8

–9 NFPA Fire Journal. “Gas Explosion.” Vol. 67, No. 3, May 1973, p. 60.*
–8 AP. “Body recovered from fire.” Daily Capital News, Jefferson City, MO, 12-13-1972, p. 2.
–8 Daily News-Bulletin, Brookfield, MO. “Gas Leak Blamed in Clinton Explosion.” 12-12-1972, p. 3.
–8 NTSB. PAR. Missouri Public Service Company, Clinton, Missouri, December 9, 1972, p. i.
–8 Sedalia Democrat, MO. “Clinton Tragedy Claims 8.” 12-11-1972, p. 2.

*Blanchard on NFPA death toll. It appears that one of those reportedly killed, the doctor administering a sedative to a trapped victim, was in error.

Narrative Information

NFPA Fire Journal: “Gas Explosion, Dec. 9, 1972, Clinton, Mo.

“A leak in a four-inch natural gas line in the central square of Clinton resulted in accumulations of gas in the basement of a three-story building that housed several stores and offices. At 6:06 pm, when most of the stores and offices had closed for the day, an explosion occurred in the basement of the building. A gas company employee who was in front of the building looking for the cause of the leaking gas was killed outright by the concussion, and a store proprietor in the building was killed when the building collapsed. The explosion and ensuing fire caused serious damage to an adjacent multiple-occupancy building, trapping a proprietor and her daughter in rubble. About an hour after the explosion this building collapsed also. A doctor who had been administering a sedative to the daughter, the daughter and the mother, and four men who had been trying to free the women were killed. The gas explosion damaged other buildings showered debris over a train, and blew our windows within a two-block area. Besides the nine victims, eight other persons were injured.”

NTSB Abstract: “This report describes and analyzes a gas explosion and fire which occurred on December 9, 1972, in downtown Clinton, MO. Gas had leaked into a building from a cracked cast-iron main located behind the building. Missouri Public Service Company personnel arrived at the site of the reported leak 50 minutes before the explosion. Eight persons died, and seven others were injured.

“The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the explosion was the ignition of gas that had leaked from a cast-iron main cracked by a combination of soil stresses and railroad vibration, which applied a bending force to the pipe in an area weakened by graphitization.

“Contributing to the explosion were the failure of the gas company to shut off the flow of gas to the leak site and the inadequate efforts of the gas-company personnel to prevent the ignition of the leaking gas detected in the building.

“The report contains recommendations to the Office of Pipeline Safety of the Department of Transportation, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Gas Piping Standards Committee, and the Missouri Public Service Company. They concern emergency response, shutoff valve operation, and prompt detection of system failures.”

Newspapers:

Dec 11: “Clinton – Numbed by the bone-chilling cold and charred tragedy before them, residents of this west central Missouri town gathered at the southeast corner of the square here late Sunday afternoon [Dec 10] as workers continued to probe a half-block of smoldering brick and ice-covered debris for an eighth victim of a Saturday evening natural gas explosion….An ambulance waited beyond a fire truck nearby, for the eighth victim, apparently buried on one of the basements of the half-block of rubble….[the missing person] was Eugen Burns, owner of the Burns Abstract Company, one of two persons searching for the source of a noticeable gas smell at the scene of the blast about 5 p.m. Saturday. Burns, who also owned the building housing many of the seven businesses destroyed in the blast, was called to the building Saturday by Mrs. Madelyn Pelikan, operator of a photography studio, who reportedly detected a strong smell of gas.

“Mrs. Pelikan reportedly contacted her business neighbor, Dr. Jack Kingsley, a dentist, who said he could not detect any odor in his office but upon investigation could smell gas in the photography studio, especially in the basement. It was then that Mrs. Pelikan called Burns, who apparently was inspecting the basement with Jesse Justis, a MPSC employee, at the time of the explosion. Justis reportedly had left the building to get something from his truck just before the blast rocked the city square. He was injured and taken to Golden Valley Hospital.

“Besides Burns, seven other persons perished in the tragedy, five of them in the process of trying to rescue a mother and daughter trapped in some caved-in ruins of The Shoppe, one of the businesses destroyed in the explosion. The five men who died in the rescue attempt were reportedly buried under brick when a wall collapsed in the boutique in which the two women were trapped.

“Dead are Miss Darlene Hunter, 27; Mrs. Mike Hunter, 62; Dr. Ronald West, 30, a Clinton dentist; Herman Leroy Steward, 33; Charles Frederick Wilson, 23; and Mark James Beattie, 21; all of Clinton, and Maurice Purvis, a volunteer fireman from Montrose.

“Witnesses said firemen heard cries from Miss Hunter and her mother, who operated the boutique. Despite the danger from fire and falling debris, volunteers entered the building. Dr. James Colebert, a fire department doctor, administered morphine to Miss Hunter, it was reported, during the rescue attempt….Six other persons besides Justis were injured, four of them seriously….

“The scene of the 6:08 p.m. blast was a complex of buildings reportedly being renovated. The subsequent fire took until midnight to control. Fire units from 17 departments from as far as 60 miles away helped in battling the blaze, it was reported.

“According to one Clinton source, investigators from both Jefferson City and Washington were here Sunday, trying to find the blame for the blast, now believed to be caused by a buildup of natural gas. The source said investigation by state and national officials is standard procedure in gas explosions involving a fatality. Ironically, the scene of the blast formerly housed the Missouri Public Service Company offices here.

“The force of the explosion was felt up to 20 blocks away, one source reported, with some store windows around the square shattered by the blast. A drugstore immediately to the west, Diamond Drug, was severely damaged by smoke and water, and all of the store’s windows were blown out.

“Telephone service between Clinton and Sedalia was disrupted until late Sunday afternoon, with ‘no circuit’ conditions reported by Southwestern Bell Telephone Co., operators….

“Firms destroyed beside the boutique, abstract firm and photography studio included a jewelry store, barber shop, beauty shop and professional offices….” (Sedalia Democrat, MO. “Clinton Tragedy Claims 8.” 12-11-1972, pp. 1 and 4.)

Dec 12: “Washington, (AP) – The National Transportation Safety Board in Washington says the devastating explosion at Clinton, Mo. over the week-end involved a natural gas pipeline. Eight people perished in the explosion and fire – five of them giving their lives in futile attempts to rescue trapped victims. The chairman of the safety board in Washington, John Reed, says the explosive natural gas came from a cracked gas main behind a row of three-story buildings. Four buildings at one-corner of the courthouse square in Clinton were demolished or burned….” (Daily News-Bulletin and Marceline News, Brookfield, MO. “Gas Leak Blamed in Clinton Explosion.” 12-12-1972, p. 3.)

Dec 13: “Clinton, Mo. (AP) – The body of Eugene Burns, last of eight persons killed in an explosion and fire, was recovered late Monday from charred rubble at the southeast corner of Clinton’s square….Five of those killed were crushed when a building collapsed while they were trying to pull another victim out of the debris. Burns, 50, son-in-law of the buildings’ owner, Haysler Poague, acted as landlord in managing the buildings. He was helping search for a natural gas leak in one of the basements when the blast occurred.” (AP. “Body recovered from fire.” Daily Capital News, Jefferson City, MO, 12-13-1972, p. 2.)

Sources

Associated Press. “Body recovered from fire.” Daily Capital News, Jefferson City, MO, 12-13-1972, p. 2. Accessed 1-19-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/daily-capital-news-dec-13-1972-p-2/

Daily News-Bulletin and Marceline News, Brookfield, MO. “Gas Leak Blamed in Clinton Explosion.” 12-12-1972, p. 3. Accessed 1-19-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/brookfield-daily-news-bulletin-dec-12-1972-p-3/

National Transportation Safety Board. Pipeline Accident Report. Missouri Public Service Company, Clinton, Missouri, December 9, 1972. Washington, DC: NTSB, adopted 2-27-1974. Accessed 1-19-2022 at: https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/PAR-74-03.pdf

NFPA (National Fire Protections Association) Fire Journal. “Gas Explosion.” Vol. 67, No. 3, May 1973, p. 60.

Sedalia Democrat, MO. “Clinton Tragedy Claims 8.” 12-11-1972, pp. 1 and 4. Accessed 1-19-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/sedalia-democrat-dec-11-1972-p-1/