1946 – Jan 28, gasoline fumes ignite, fire, Tinker Field hangar ~Oklahoma City, OK — 10
Last edit 11-9-2023 by Wayne Blanchard for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
— 10 Journal Record, Oklahoma City. “Tinker fire of ’46 claimed 10 lives…” 1-13-2006.
— 10 National Fire Protect. Assoc.. “Large Loss Fires of 1946.” Quarterly, 40/3, Jan 1947, p192.
Narrative Information
Journal Record, 2006: “Many Tinker Air Force Base employees can recall the fire of 1984, perhaps a few may remember the destructive fire of 1976, but the most devastating fire in base history occurred 60 years ago this month. Unlike the more recent fires that attacked Bldg. 3001, the fire of Jan. 28, 1946, destroyed the center of Bldg. 230, now part of the 552nd Air Control Wing’s complex. Even more devastating was that 10 maintenance workers lost their lives while another 38 were injured.
“The fire alarm sounded at 9:31 a.m. and most of the employees quickly exited the World War II, industrial building. But 22 other Tinker employees never heard the alarm since they were meeting in the maintenance war room which was specially constructed to be sound proof. It was not until smoke began seeping under the door and through the floor did they discover a raging inferno had already surrounded them. Dense smoke prevented a normal escape, but 12 men managed to feel their way across the corridor to second-story windows. Frantically crawling through narrow openings, each one jumped to the pavement below. Nels Benson, general superintendent of the maintenance division, sustained a broken ankle while the others suffered only scratches and bruises. Fire units from Oklahoma City, Midwest City and the airfield had the fire contained in less than an hour, but the damage had already been done. Intense flames had twisted steel girders and the entire middle section of the building had collapsed upon itself.
“According to The New York Times, Tinker Field officials initially reported there had been no loss of life; however, hours later, clean-up workers found eight bodies under a collapsed brick wall. Continued probing through the blackened debris led to the discovery of two more victims that evening. Many of the workers who required treatment in the base hospital received their injuries while rushing to save Army Air Corps resources. Thirteen B-29s, being modified in the hangars, were pulled to safety. ‘Without the unselfish assistance of many employees who returned to the blazing hangars to haul B-29s out, we would have suffered a holocaust beyond our wildest imagination,’ said Col. Ralph O. Brownfield, deputy installation commander at the time. ‘These workers performed their heroic deeds without being asked and without a thought for their personal safety. Their contribution cannot be underestimated, and I commend each of those who helped.’
“W.T. Mayfield, an electrician who was working outside the hangar, made a human mattress of himself to save a trapped employee. Mr. Mayfield said he had retreated to ensure his own safety when he heard a terrified scream from a window 25 feet above the ground. Seeing the helpless man near panic, Mr. Mayfield yelled, ‘I’ll help break your fall if you jump.’ The man jumped and the electrician broke his fall. They both were jarred for the moment, but lived to tell their children.
“The subsequent board of inquiry concluded the fire started by ‘auto-ignition of gasoline fumes emanating from gasoline spilled on the floor when a hose split on a fuel booster test stand.’ The fumes contacted a nearby, open-element, glow-heater being used by workers to keep warm on a cold Monday morning. The fire raced from the spilled gasoline to the test stand tank, then to the low ceiling mezzanine floor approximately nine feet above the shop floor. It mushroomed along the ceiling in every direction consuming everything above it. Cleaning vats, located throughout the shop area, fed the fire and increased the total damage. Later, officials revealed the Tinker Field employees caught in the war room were meeting to discuss depot maintenance plans to support the important Crossroads Atomic Bombing Test, which would be conducted in the South Pacific.
“Those who lost their lives that day were: Haskell Van Cleave, Marvin A. Daum, Claude L. Fleet, Claude L. Ferrier, Charles R. Givens, Joseph L. Hall, Murray W. Jackson, James M. Mangum, Milton R. Weber and Capt. Eugene Leger. (January 13, 2006).” (Journal Record, Oklahoma City. “Tinker fire of ’46 claimed 10 lives, injured 33.” 1-13-2006.)
National Fire Protection Association:
“Jan. 28, near Oklahoma City, Okla. Hangar—Military. $2,300,000.
“An electric heater coil which ignited gasoline fumes escaping from a broken hose connection on a fuel booster pump test stand started a fire which swept a large AAF aircraft maintenance hangar at Tinker Field and resulted in the death of 10 persons. Those killed were trapped on a mezzanine floor directly over the fuel pump test department. Only one exit was provided and this was blocked by flames. The hangar involved (200 ft. by 283 ft., and 90 ft. high at arch center) adjoined a similar hangar, a large shop area 350 ft. by 675 ft., and 2 other hangars of like description on the far side of the shops. The entire area (approximately 13½ acres under one roof) was without fire stops, but fire fighters were able to bring the blaze under control by entering the shop area and driving the flames back with high pressure water fog while other hose streams were played on the corrugated metal and glass walls from the outside.
“Unusual dangers accompanied the fire-fighting operations as unprotected structural steel roof framing buckled and twisted from the heat, but fortunately did not totally collapse except along one wall. No automatic sprinklers were installed at the time of the fire, although projects had been submitted for such protection by Army Air Force authorities in recognition of the fire danger. Failure to provide fire cutoffs for special hazard operations was another obvious deficiency. The loss was divided $500,000 for structural damage; $1,800,000 for contents.” (National Fire Protection Association. “Large Loss Fires of 1946.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 40, No. 3, Jan 1947, pp. 179-248.)
Sources
Journal Record, Oklahoma City. “Tinker fire of ’46 claimed 10 lives, injured 33,” 1-13-2006. Accessed 5-14-2013: http://journalrecord.com/tinkertakeoff/2006/01/13/tinker-fire-of-821646-claimed-10-lives-injured-33/
National Fire Protection Association. “Large Loss Fires of 1946.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 40, No. 3, Jan 1947, pp. 179-248.