1942 — March 7, car and ammo truck collide, fire, delayed explosion, near Selma, NC– 7
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 6-29-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
–7 Gastonia Daily Gazette, NC. “Seventh Victim of Truck Blast Dies.” 3-9-1942, p. 2.
–7 Moran. Explosive Accident Summary: [WW] II. DoD Explosives Safety Board, 1992, 119.
–6 The Robesonian, Lumberton NC. “Death Toll From Munitions Truck Blast…Six.” 3-9-42, 1.
–5 The Landmark, Statesville NC. “Five Killed…Over 100 Injured…Powder Blast.” 3-9-42, p7.
–4 Daily Times News, Burlington, NC. “Four Killed, 100 Injured in N.C. Blast.” 3-7-1942, p.1.[1]
Narrative Information
Moran: “During World War 11, railroads and trucking firms moved almost 10 million tons of ammunition and explosives. There were a total of 16 significant explosions and fires on rail lines with 2 fatalities reported. There were also 16 significant explosions involving truckloads of explosives, but 11 were killed. The most striking of these events occurred at Selma, North Carolina on 7 March 1942 when a passenger car ran a stop sign and collided with a truck carrying 8,000 pounds of TNT and Tetryl. The truck drivers rescued the passengers from the burning car, but one of them died later. The fire department attempted, without success, to move the spectators away. A car with two passengers was actually driving past the burning wreck when it detonated, killing them. Fifty were injured in a dance hall 525 feet away. Two perished in a hotel fire 150 from the blast. Seventeen buildings were burned or structurally damaged, including a two story brick hotel. The final toll was 7 dead and 50 injured.” (Moran, Edward P. Jr. Explosive Accident Summary: World War II. DoD Explosives Safety Board, Aug 1992, p. 119.)
Newspapers:
March 7: “Smithfield, March 7 – (AP) – Four persons were known to have been killed and approximately 100 others were reported injured near here early today in the delayed explosion of a fire-ridden ammunition-laden truck, the thunderous roar of which was heard over a radius of 50 miles in eastern North Carolina.
“Dr. E. N. Booker, Johnston county coroner, who first said at least five persons were injured fatally, said there was some question whether three bodies at first believed to be in a leveled hotel were there as he initially announced. Several persons were missing from the hotel and it was possible, he explained, that the number of dead might be seven or, more. He said ruins of the hotel were too hot to be sure but that he was planning an investigation this afternoon.
“A hotel, a filling station and a tavern were leveled and windows at Selma, a town about two miles away were shattered. The cement highway under the truck was ripped wide and deep for a distance of 30 feet.
“Dr. Booker said that George Stroup, of Gastonia, and Cecil Propst, of Lawndale, in the automobile, were warned to proceed around the truck, earlier involved in a collision with an automobile at the Roadside community, at their own risk.
“Mrs. Minnie Lewis, of Raleigh, who was severely burned when her car was in collision with the truck before the explosion, died at a hospital a few hours after the wreck….
“Buck Mitchell, 46, of Dunn, a café worker, was fatally injured in the blast.
“Stroup was commander of a CCC camp at New Holland and Propst was a state game warden.
“There were believed to be three bodies in the hotel ruins, but this had not been definitely determined. Only four persons were known to be dad. The injured were taken to hospitals in Smithfield, Goldsboro and Raleigh.
“Dr. Booker said that all buildings within some 300 yards of the explosion were badly damaged or leveled and that half the store windows in Selma were blown out. Most of the casualties were bystanders who had watched the truck burn for almost two hours before exploding.
“State Highway Patrolman H. C. Bobbitt said the explosion, heard 25 miles away, occurred at 3 a.m. The auto-truck collision took place at 1:15 a.m. and firemen summoned from Selma and Smithfield had succeeded in extinguishing the fire in the automobile when they were forced to return to their stations for water.
“Bystanders and persons in the nearby Talton hotel and Gurkins tavern in the Roadside community watched as the flames gained headway again and soon caused the explosion. ‘Suddenly the truck exploded and Luke Capps’ filling station, about 150 yards away, and behind which I was sitting in my car was leveled to the ground,’ Bobbitt said. ‘My car was demolished and only by the Grace of God am I living to tell the details.’
“Bobbitt said that the highway patrol had cleared the cement roadway, in which a 30-foot gap was left by the explosion, for a distance of some 200 yards. ‘But still the flying debris and fire killed at least four and apparently injured about 100,’ he added….
“The truck was driven by Raymond Avery, of Charleston, who was only slightly injured, Bobbitt said.
“The automobile was proceeding into Highway 301 from Highway 70 at a point some two miles from Smithfield when the collision occurred, Bobbitt said. The driver of the car, he said, was Mrs. Minnie Lewis, of Raleigh. She was severely burned and in a critical condition. Her husband, Odle Lewis, suffered a broken leg. One of he two Marines riding in the Lewis car, also received a broken leg….The two Lewis children were not hurt.
“‘The car caught on fire almost immediately and sprayed the truck with gasoline,’ Bobbitt said. ‘But the truck did not immediately catch fire. The firemen were making fine headway in controlling the blaze when the water gave out,’ he continued. ‘We then cleared the highway of spectators for a distance of at least 200 yards, but naturally several of the buildings destroyed were within the area which we had cleared and some of those injured were in these buildings.’
“‘The truck was carrying some 30,000 pounds of high explosives, including ammunition,’ he continued. ‘The long burning fire, which lit up the heavens for miles around, naturally attracted folk from a wide area and it was difficult to keep them back from the scene.’
“So tremendous was the power of the explosion that one man was injured a quarter of a mile away by a piece of wreckage. Debris was found 2 ½ miles away….” (Daily Times News, Burlington, NC. “Four Killed, 100 Injured in N.C. Blast. Ammunition Truck Near Smithfield in Explosion. Death Toll Possibly Will Mount as Check Made.” 3-7-1942, pp. 1-2.)
March 9: “Two investigations have been launched into the circumstances of the death-destruction dealing explosion between Smithfield and Selma early Saturday morning after a munitions laden truck and an automobile collided at an important highway intersection.
“First in importance in the inquiry is the fact that a collision occurred. It is of interest, of course, to determine why the drivers of the vehicles permitted them to collide. One or both of the drivers contributed to it by negligence. Mrs. Minnie Lewis, driver of the private car and fatally burned as a result of the crash, did not know the truck she collided with contained explosives if she observed it at all. Raymond O’Neil Avery, driver of the truck, did know that his haul was dangerous and potentially as deadly as it turned out to be.
“The extent of such munitions hauls on the public highways of the state is not of record here. There may be much or little if it transported in this manner. If such transportation is on a very large scale it would seem practical — and certainly in the interest of safety — to organize and convoy such shipments. This, of course, should apply to the highways of any of the several states.
“It would not be difficult to organize such convoy service in any case. Highway patrolmen, or army personnel, might be employed for this work, there should be patrol forces in front and behind such traffic to warn the public. Passing such a convoy from behind should be prohibited. It would be possible in most instances, also, to route such shipments over highways less congested normally than those designated and used as principal traffic lanes.
“Dealing specifically with the blast Saturday morning, it must be recognized that the scene, of the collision presents one of the principal traffic hazards of the state. Highway No. 70 begins or ends a sharp curve at the point, a short distance from where it spans the Southern railway, while the highway to or near Smithfield or Selma is straight for some distance. The point is marked with “stop” signals against traffic, but the “go” signal after stopping is left to the judgment of the driver. It must be remembered, too, that many careless drivers ignore these signals…. Thousands of North Carolina motorists — tens of thousands of them – recognize this intersection as extremely hazardous and guard against it. The truck driver in this case, however, operating from South Carolina, may have been less familiar with it….
“If this tragedy had to happen — and it may be argued that it was not pre-destined — it was fortunate that it happened during the early morning. At almost any other hour thousands of curious would have raced to the scene regardless of any warning they might have received, and the death toll might have been many times multiplied. Any person who learned the nature of the wreck and did not attempt to put miles between him and the scene was foolish. The blast was almost certain under the circumstanced, and it had more power than any single explosive unit used in the war. There was ample time, however, for anyone to have evacuated the section….”
(Daily Times News, Burlington, NC. “Munitions Truck Blast” (editorial). 3-9-1942, p. 4.)
March 9: “Smithfield, March 9. (AP) – With the known dead now listed officially at six, workmen today continued to sift through [unclear] near here at the scene of a munitions truck explosion which also injured scores more in bed at a hotel and wrecked a row of filling stations and a tavern. Seventeen families were left homeless by the blast, the Red Cross reported….” (The Robesonian, Lumberton, NC. “Death Toll From Munitions Truck Blast Placed at Six.” 3-9-1942, p. 1.)
March 10: “Smithfield, March 10 – (AP) – Mrs. R. L. Holloman, operator of the Talton Hotel near Selma, died today in the Johnston County Hospital of injuries suffered Saturday in the explosion of an ammunition-laden truck which destroyed the hotel and other buildings in the area and brought fatal injuries to six other persons.” (Gastonia Daily Gazette, NC. “Seventh Victim of Truck Blast Dies.” 3-9-1942, p. 2.)
Sources
Daily Times News, Burlington, NC. “Four Killed, 100 Injured in N.C. Blast.” 3-7-1942, p.1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=44605436&sterm=selma+fire
Daily Times News, Burlington, NC. “Munitions Truck Blast.” 3-9-1942, p. 4. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=38865108&sterm=explosion+selma
Gastonia Daily Gazette, NC. “Seventh Victim of Truck Blast Dies.” 3-9-1942, p. 2. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=65005044&sterm
Moran, Edward P. Jr. Explosive Accident Summary: World War II. DoD Explosives Safety Board, Aug 1992. Accessed 4-19-2013: http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA507027
The Landmark, Statesville, NC. “Five Killed and Over 100 Injured by Powder Blast.” 3-9-1942, p. 7. http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=159357866&sterm
The Robesonian, Lumberton, NC. “Death Toll From Munitions Truck Blast Placed at Six.” 3-9-1942, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=193316971&sterm
[1] The intersection of State Highways 70 and 301, where collision occurred is between Selma and Smithfield.