1948 – Sep 7, Brach Candy Factory fire, Starch Dust Explosions and fire, Chicago, IL– 15
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard Sep 21, 2023 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
–17 NFPA. “Large Loss Fires of 1948.” Quarterly of the [NFPA], 42/3, Jan 1949, p. 187.
–15 Connecting the Windy City. “September 7, 1948 – Brach Can Explosion Kills 15.” 9-7-2020.
–15 NFPA. “Fires in ‘Fireproof’ Buildings.” Quarterly, Vol. 44, No. 1, July, 1950, p. 55.
–15 National Fire Protection Assoc. Report of Important Dust Explosions. 1957, pp. 25 & 67.
Narrative Information
Connecting the Windy City. “September 7, 1948 – Brach Can Explosion Kills 15.”
“September 7, 1948 – An explosion and fire rips through a building of the massive Brach Candy plant at 4656 Kinzie Street around 3:00 a.m., killing 15 workers and injuring 18 more. It is fortunate that day shift workers had not reported for duty when the explosion occurs, so there are fewer than the 2,400 workers that would have been at the site five or six hours later. Most of the damage is confined to two rooms on the top floor of the three-story building that covers an entire city block. Fire Commissioner Michael J. Corrigan says that the explosion could have been one of the greatest disasters in recent years if it had occurred when all employees were on duty. One employee says that there was no warning of the explosion which blows out a portion of the building’s north wall, temporarily blocking the Chicago and North Western Railroad tracks on one side of the building. Investigation reveals that a fire preceded the explosion, and that the explosion, probably caused by suspended corn starch in the air, killed several men who were fighting the fire along with a dozen others who were in the vicinity.
National Fire Protection Association, Jan 1949: “Sept. 7 Chicago, Ill. E. J. Brach & Sons…Manufacture of chocolate-covered candy with cream centers. $5,000,000 17 killed.” (NFPA. “Large Loss Fires of 1948.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, 42/3, Jan 1949, p. 187.)
National Fire Protection Association, 1950: “An explosion of starch dust on the third floor of…[a] 4-story fire-resistive candy factory killed 15 employees and wrecked the third and fourth floors. Brick wall panels and large metal-sash windows were blown out, concrete roof sections lifted, and partitions demolished. Damage was approximately $2,000,000. The explosion occurred in Chicago on Sept. 7, 1948.” (National Fire Protection Association. “Fires in ‘Fireproof’ Buildings.” Quarterly, Vol. 44, No. 1, July, 1950, p. 55.)
National Fire Protection Association, 1957: “The first of three starch dust explosions that killed 15 employees, injured 10 and caused $2,000,000 property damage originated in a machine used in a continuous candy making process. Starch used in the molding of cream fillings at the machine was conveyed to a drier to remove moisture after which it was returned to the machine for reuse. Apparently starch in the drier had ignited and smoldered over the week end (the explosions occurred as the day’s operations were starting) and smoldering dust was carried into the candy molding machines when the fans in the dust conveying ducts were started.
“The first explosion in the machine, although mild, was sufficient to shake dust loose in the machine which exploded with greater violence. Dust thrown into suspension resulted in a third and more violent explosion, which blew out brick panel walls and windows in the third and fourth stories of the fire-resistive building, wrecked sprinkler piping and started numerous fires….
“The NFPA Code for the Prevention of Dust Explosions In Confectionery Manufacturing Plants was dratted as a result of this disastrous explosion that took 15 lives.” (NFPA. Report of Important Dust Explosions. 1957, pp. 25-26.)
Sources
Connecting the Windy City. “September 7, 1948 – Brach Can Explosion Kills 15.” 9-7-2020. Accessed 9-21-2023 at:
http://www.connectingthewindycity.com/2020/09/september-7-1948-brach-candy-explosion.html
National Fire Protection Association. “Fires in ‘Fireproof’ Buildings.” Quarterly, Vol. 44, No. 1, July, 1950.
National Fire Protection Association. “Large Loss Fires of 1948.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 42, No. 3, January 1949, pp. 137-183.
National Fire Protection Association. Report of Important Dust Explosions: A Record of Dust Explosions in the United States and Canada Since 1860. Boston: NFPA, 1957.
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