PATERSON POOCH'S PALS - 1967

patersonfirehistory.com

May 7, 1967 - Paterson Fire Department - Engine 3

GASOLINE ALLEY, BAYONNE

Image: Wikipedia

BLEVE at Constable Hook - July 1900

December 1960

In the 20th Century, the North Jersey waterfront at Bayonne was a gasoline alley prone to fires and explosions aboard ships, at piers and tank farms.

In 1872, John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil set up shop at the city's Constable Hook and expanded over the decades, adding to catastrophic risk.

After a 1911 blast, Fire and Water magazine, predecessor to Fire Engineering, noted "explosions at Constable Point are of frequent occurance, although every known precaution is taken to prevent such a disaster."

In other words, industrial progress comes at a cost. 

In one of the deadliest accidents, two tankers collided and burst into flames under the Bayonne Bridge along the Kill Van Kull waterway on June 16, 1966, ultimately claiming 33 lives from the ships as well as two tugs.

One of the vessels, the Alva Cape carrying 4.2 million gallons of the volatile petroleum product, suffered a breach. The New York City fire boat Alfred E. Smith moved in close and smothered gushing "lava-like naptha" with foam, averting a greater disaster, New York Mayor John Lindsey said.

Here's a sampling of other incidents:

On July 5, 1900, lightning struck the Standard Oil tanks at Constable Hook with flames roaring to "a height of 100 feet in immense bubbles that burst with a noise like that of wind-drive surf,'' the Democrat and Chronicle of Rochester, New York, reported. Today, firefighters refer to such fiery bubbles as a BLEVE -  boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion. Workers dug trenches to contain spills threatening homes.

On Aug. 9, 1929, an explosion aboard the William Rockefeller moored at Standard Oil's Pier 6 took one life and spewed burning oil across Kill Van Kull toward Staten Island, according to the United Press. "Lines were placed aboard the William Rockefeller and it was towed into midstream, where fireboats poured water into it," UP reported.

On May 8, 1930, at Pier 1 of the Gulf Refining Co., a tanker backing into Kill Van Kull backfired after taking on 800 gallons of gasoline. Flames spread ashore, setting off a fiery chain reaction. "Drums of gasoline piled two high exploded and in some instances were hurled a hundred feet in the air," Fire Engineering said. Tugs and fire boats - including New York's John Purroy Mitchell, Zophar Mills and William J. Gaynor - joined land forces from the Bayonne Fire Department and plant brigades.

An estimated 316,000 pounds of foam powder was shipped to Bayonne to fight the 1930 inferno and replenish supplies.

In 1945, Fire Engineering reported fumes from a 100,000 oil tank at Standard Oil's Bayonne Terminal ignited, and the top of the tank caved in "scattering burning oil over a 100-foot area," injuring firefighters and plant workers. Bayonne firefighter James Farrell, 54, suffered third-degree burns to his neck and shoulders, the magazine said.

On Dec. 28, 1960, a liquid propane tank exploded at the Sun Gas Products Corp. at Constable Hook. Firefighters turned back flames that spread within 50 feet of a huge oil tank, according to the Associated Press. "Police evacuated everybody from within a five-block radius of the explosion scene and cordoned it off," AP reported.

GREEN VERSUS RED

Photo: usfirepolice.net

"It's not easy being green," Kermit the Frog once said.

Newark and other American cities fielded safety lime and safety yellow fire apparatus to improve visibility and cut down on traffic accidents.

Scientists had determined human eyes are "most sensitive to greenish-yellow colors under dim conditions, making lime shades easiest to see in low lighting," according to the American Psychological Association.

However, later scientific studies determined "recognizing the vehicle was more important than paint color" the APA said. "If people in a particular community don't associate the color lime with fire trucks, then yellow-green vehicles may not actually be as conspicuous."

The trend has since shifted back to red, just like Kermit the Frog's Sesame Street neighbor - Elmo.

WOODBRIDGE RAIL DISASTER - 1951

Photo: gendisasters.com

On Feb. 6, 1951, a commuter train derailed at a temporary wooden trestle in Woodbridge, New Jersey, killing 86 people in one of the deadliest rail accidents in U.S. history. 

An estimated 500 were injured.

And yes, that was a "wooden trestle" in "Woodbridge."

"Volunteer firemen of New Jersey spearheaded the rescue effort," Fire Engineering magazine reported in its April 1, 1951 edition.

"As the magnitude of the tragedy became known, police broadcasts brought more and more rescue companies and emergency squads rolling in with needed lighting, cutting, forcible entry and other equipment, and personnel trained in emergency first aid work," the magazine said.

The Associated Press reported:

"The 11-car Pennsylvania Railroad train, The Broker, swerved wildly and jumped the tracks as it sped onto the midtown overpass. The cars, jack-knifing crazily, hurtled down a 20-foot embankment.

"The new, temporary overpass had been put into service only a few hours before the crash."

 AP also reported:

"Ambulances hurried to the scene from all over North Jersey. Blood plasma was sent from New York and Jersey City.

"A morgue was set up in a garage. Blood-splattered rescue workers tenderly placed the dead in long rows, then pulled brown sheets of paper over their still forms. The feet of the dead sprawled limp, uncovered by the paper shrouds.

"Acetylene torches sputtered beneath the eerie rays of big spotlights, the torches biting first this way and then that around trapped passengers.

"Small ladders were laid against the slime of the embankment. And other big fire department ladders also were moved up to get at the coaches. The dead and injured, pulled free, were placed on the stretchers and handed down the ladders."

PERTH AMBOY ASPHALT PLANT - 1949

Photo: Fire Engineering

Perth Amboy volunteer firefighters Lawrence Dambach, 52, and Howard Adams, 35, died when an asphalt tank exploded at the California Refining Company on June 23, 1949. A plant worker also died.

Eight people - including two other firefighters - were injured.

The blaze burned unchecked for five hours.

"Black, greasy smoke rose hundreds of feet into the air" and "was visible as far away as Manhattan, 25 miles to the north," the Associated Press reported.

"The first explosion let go at 2 p.m., and fire spread rapidly to adjoining stills and storage tanks," the AP said. "Then a 10,000 gallon asphalt tank blew 50 feet into the air, spewing its blazing contents."

Citing Second Assistant Fire Chief Alex Pietraska of Perth Amboy, the magazine Fire Engineering reported:

"When firemen arrived at the plant it looked as though a bomb had dropped on it. Hair and eyebrows were singed as the men hooked up lines and advanced through slime and melted tar to reach what appeared to be the center of the fire.

"Adams and Dumbach were on a foam nozzle, about five feet ahead of Howard Adam's brother, Harry. The Chief was about, five or ten feet behind Harry and both were lighting up the line for the men at the pipe.

"The first two men got in between two tanks which were described as steaming, spitting and whistling and they trained their stream on the center of the fire. Suddenly there was a whine like the noise associated with the dropping of a bomb.

"Chief Pietraska yelled to the men to get back, as it looked as if a tank was going to blow. As the chief and men began to run, there came a terrific blast, which caught the two nearest men. Howard Adams and Dumbach were thrown into a three-foot deep pit filled with molten asphalt and burned to death."

Dambach was the father of four and Adams had a 6-year-old son, the AP said.

HUDSON RIVER TUBE - 1942

Photos: PM newspaper

On April 26, 1942, a Hudson River tube train derailed at the Exchange Place station in Jersey City, killing five people and injuring more than 200 others, the United Press said.  [Click on image for finer details]