why it became a disaster on August 18 1959 in Kansas City
television station MBC took one of the most spectacular on the spot fire movies
you will ever see from the pictures taken that day the TV station has edited
and narrated a seven-minute film the film they made received the Medill School of Journalism Citation for
television news coverage this educational value and station KMBC is to
be commended for making it available to the public it's rare indeed that Monday
morning for Trinity to visually review such a fire him as much as the film was
produced for news reporting purposes it is narrated in newscaster style shown
without explanation it may leave the impression that any petroleum bulk plant
can be vulnerable to the same type of tragic fire of course this is not true
at all if accompanied by an explanation as to just what happened and how and why
it happened the film of this fire can be a powerful agency in furthering fire
protection education it is the purpose of this presentation to furnish a part
of this explanation concerning the chain of events before and during the fire and
to give widespread circulation to the lessons that have been learned from it
in the film you will see how tanks can react when they are not equipped with
the protective devices recommended by present-day standards before viewing the
film let's examine a layout of the involved plant here is a scale model
there were four 21,000 gallon tanks supported on concrete foundations tank
number one contains six thousand five hundred gallons
kerosene tank number two contained 16,000 gallons of gasoline tank number
three contained 3000 gallons of gasoline and tank number four contained 16,000 gallons of gasoline you will notice that
the bulk plant was located behind the gasoline service station and that the
loading rack for trucks was in a tunnel like roofed over area behind the service
station building you will also note that although the tank was in Kansas the
Kansas Missouri State Line was about a hundred and fifty feet from the tanks
now let's look at the sequence of events just before and during the fire the fire began while gasoline was being loaded
into a tank truck through two two inch gravity lines the loader and an off-duty
employee were at the truck when the flash occurred the loader ran to call
the fire department the flow of gasoline continued until the truck overflowed
causing the burning gasoline to spread on to the ground and the fire then involved a service station and the
loading area fire departments responded with nearly a hundred men firemen were
concentrated in this location but most of the water directed toward the fire
around the station and the loading area the fire gradually increased in
intensity for about 1 and 3/4 hours when the rear end of one of the tanks
ruptured this was followed at about five minute intervals by the rear-end rupture
of two more tanks the rupture of these tanks resulted in a tremendous increase
in the intensity of the fire a few minutes later 15 to 20 minutes after the
first tank had ruptured tank number 4 ruptured this tank also failed at the
rear end and in this instance the tank itself was hurled some 94 feet into the
street apparently upon contact with the pavement the front end also opened up
the result was a rapid spread of flames which over ran the fire line and took the lives of six firemen this
description of events is for the purpose of clarifying circumstances of the fire
and the factors which contributed to its serious consequences not for the purpose of placing blame but rather to emphasize
the lessons which have been learned this was an accident that should never have
happened it did happen because of an almost
unbelievable coincidence of a series of unfavorable conditions or contributing
factors the absence of any one of these factors might have prevented the end
results now you will see the television news film of the fire as narrated by the
newscaster Kansas City is one of America's most peaceful and beautiful
large cities rarely does an incident of violence hurl Kansas City into the glare
of national news headlines but late in the summer of 1959 a spark touched off a raging inferno which killed six brave
men and injured more than a hundred some of the man you'll be seeing in the news coverage of this tragedy are now dead
this is a presentation of KMBC TV in Kansas City Missouri this is where
tragedy struck in Kansas City it's shortly after nine o'clock the morning of Tuesday August 18th 1959 the location
busy Southwest Boulevard on the Kansas side of the Missouri Kansas line this is
what is left of a service station and both gasoline storage plant the fire has
been raging for an hour it apparently began when two men were loading gasoline
into a tank truck on the service station drive these three men later died the
heat of the fire combined with a fierce heat from the Sun made the fire line an
extremely hot place dozens of firemen had already dropped from heat exhaustion
and smoke inhalation ambulances were moving in a steady stream to and from 11 Kansas City hospitals they couldn't
arrive fast enough to accommodate all the injured firemen they had been carried away from their stations and
placed in the shade where their fellow firemen could administer oxygen and
other first-aid the temperature in Kansas City that morning was extremely
high and these firemen could really feel it
eighteen companies from both Kansas City Kansas and Kansas City Missouri were
there many had fallen more were to fall before this one was with the high number
of injuries brought a call for all available ambulances in Greater Kansas
City linemen from utility companies had to sever burning wires which were
further endangering the firefighters still the fire raged although the firemen had been able to
keep the flames away from the huge gasoline tanks each of these tanks had
21,000 gallon capacity that was where the big fight was centered the
firefighters used fog nozzles to reduce the water to a fine spray to smother the
fire and to try to keep the tanks cool here the camera saw the fire from the
fireman's point of view at this point deadly gasoline was 74 feet straight
ahead these also are about to be fatal victims of the fire hundreds of feet of
hose were used in the big fight some of the lines had to be drawn from two
blocks away from the fire much of this hose was to be destroyed later several
of the men manning the hose were to die searing heat blistered the faces of
these men they had to leave the fire line every few minutes and seek relief
from the heat then back to the grim business of protecting our city for some
the final face washing of their lives danger was everywhere
suddenly the flames brightened it was apparent the fire had eaten its way to
one of the big tanks the fireball that went up was evidenced the fire had found
a new fuel supply minutes ago firemen had the situation under control in
seconds they'll be running for their lives one explosion and a fireball
followed by another sent the flames hundreds of feet into the air visible
for 15 miles in all directions this was dangerous still the firemen stayed at
their posts they continued to battle this giant which now threatened to
consume them the roar of the flames was similar to the sound of a large jet
airplane fire experts say this was a stream of liquid fire spewing out the
back of the tank which was already badly ruptured fire chiefs ordered their men
back but sadly not in time and there it goes
the flames engulfed six firemen who tried to run they couldn't get away from
this inferno they tripped as they tried blindly to get away assistance not some
of them down and tried to beat out the flames
their screams will haunt many men for many years to come ambulances which it
in line now rushed into the fire area as quickly as injured firemen could be dragged from the flames they were rushed
to hospitals 12 were hurt critically six of the more to die in the few days
following this tragedy doctors firemen and police crowded around the casualties
for those less seriously hurt first aid was given so that ambulances might take
the most critically injured first the faces of some were so badly burned oxygen couldn't be administered six
received the last rites of the Catholic Church at the scene two of these man
lived only three hours for others lived as long as six days others were less
seriously hurt but would have to be hospital patients for some time well the
others more ambulances arrived burns on the face and arms were agonizing for one injured firefighter he would be in bed
for a long time if he was lucky enough to live another fireman was so badly
burned about the back that he rode to the hospital on his stomach he received
medical treatment on the way the property damage was not too spectacular
in terms of physical equipment to trucks to cars the service station the gasoline
storage tank and one large fire truck which was caught in the big explosion
but the human misery and loss of life can never be measured in dollars and cents debris from the explosion was
scattered over a wide area the huge gasoline tank was ripped apart
and moved 94 feet as it over ran the firemen's positions but there was still
a fire to be fought much water was still needed the firemen went back to work
with a grim tenacity less than an hour later they had the situation under
control for the final time had the explosion come in a slightly different
position KMBC TV news cameraman Joe Adams would
surely have been among the casualties in slow motion the build-up to the
explosion began this way the flames which had appeared to be under control
minutes earlier had found a new fuel supply this was accompanied by a loud noise which sounded almost identical to
the sound of a jet airplane at this point most of the people at the scene
began moving back then it happened the huge gasoline tank burst sending a
stream blazing fuel across the street
surrounding the helpless firemen in a sea of flame the tank actually shot
forward the firemen were 74 feet from the tank
it moved 94 feet over running their line by some 20 feet one man was a fire he
was one of the six who died later this has been a presentation of KMBC TV News
Kansas City Missouri you have just seen the tragic result of an almost
unbelievable coincidence of a series of unfavorable conditions or contributing factors the absence of any one of these
factors might have prevented the end results it was a chain of circumstances
each link taken by itself might seem unimportant and yet each link
represented an opportunity to interrupt the chain
no one can single out any one of these factors and establish that it alone was
responsible all are important and in each of these there's a lesson to be
learned let us trace the course of this fire from start to finish the plant was
built in 1927 although it was in accord with the construction standards in use
at the time it was built some of the design features would not be in accord
with the standards of a plant being built today the truck loading rack was
covered by a roof extending from the service station to a masonry wall and
was only a few feet from the tanks greater spacing in today's standards
reduces exposure to tanks if a truck loading rack fire should occur it should
be mentioned at this point that all the service station building was destroyed
the service station fire as such did not contribute to the loss of life or other
property in fact not one gallon of gasoline from the service stations
underground storage tanks immediately below the fire was burned nor were the
tanks damaged in any way of course this need not be surprising
because fire records show that there never has been a gallon of gas
burned in a service stations underground tanks during an exposure fire nor has
any underground tank exploded during such a fire next let us learn about the
ignition the fire started while a tank truck was being filled at the loading
rack an off-duty employee had come to the loading rack to visit with the
loader the exact source of ignition is not known it is known however that this visitor had a new unfilled cigarette
lighter and he had it enclosed in his hand as he climbed onto the truck loading rack as the loader and his
visitor jumped or fell to the ground the gasoline continued to flow into the
truck ultimately causing burning gasoline to
flow on to the ground if the flow of gasoline had been cut off in some manner
before the overflow occurred the fire might have been quite minor apparently one of the self closing valves did not
function and this allowed the flow to continue by gravity through one of the lines the flow of product can be
controlled by any one of several means for example devices to automatically
shut off the flow of product in an emergency are a feature of modern
loading racks the proper functioning of these devices is important in preventing
or controlling fires one example of such a device is a spring-loaded valve at the end of a loading line or hose another
device is a self closing valve in the line to the loading tube or hose now
there is a preset meter which shuts off the flow of product when the quantity to
be loaded has been metered control to prevent overflow may also be by remote
shut off of the pump supplying the rack a fire at a fill opening of a truck is
quite easily extinguished if the fuel is not overflowing the truck at the time
the decisions on how to fight a fire made during an emergency must of
necessity be made quickly and do not always concur with those conclusion
made with the benefit of time and study after a fires out it is reported that
one group of firemen attempted to close the valves on the tanks under the cover
of water spray but they could not reach them this would have stopped the flow of
fuel that was feeding the fire a study of pictures that were made during the
fire would seem to indicate that if an opening had been made in the fence
surrounding the tanks and if the firemen wearing regular fireman's protective
clothing had been supported by two or three hose lines with spray nozzles it
might have been possible to close the one valve through which the fuel was
flowing this conclusion seems valid in view of the fact that the slope of
ground was away from the tanks the next link in the chain of circumstances also involves firefighting tactics
apparently the plan of attack was to prevent burning gasoline from running
into the street and possibly into a sewer much of the effort it seems was
devoted to this plan it is the experience of some City Fire
Department's that flushing spilled gasoline into a sewer is an effective
way to control or prevent a spill fire unfortunately their plan of attack
resulted in the burning gasoline being pushed back under the tanks the first motion pictures taken an hour or so
after the start of the fire clearly indicate very little headway in the
attack on the fire at this stage firefighting objectives should have been
to approach the tanks from the sides and apply of water to cool the tanks Dewar
spilled gasoline up from under the tanks where it could burn without heating the
tanks contents and to shut off the flow of fuel by closing the valve at the tank
if possible fighting the fire from the side of the tanks keeps the firemen out
of the way of burning gasoline if the tank should fail and at the same time
their hose streams are effective in reaching the tanks and keeping them cool
thus preventing tank failure because of the buildup of internal pressure it is
reported that some water was used to cool
the tanks however at the time the picture was taken not one of the hose
streams shown was actually reaching the tanks whether the burning gasoline was
pushed by host dreams or flowed under the tanks it brings up another of the
chain of circumstances this is the question of emergency tank valves some engineers recommend emergency valves
with heat activating devices for certain types of tanks such as at both plants
such valves would have automatically shut off the flow of fuel on the heat of the fire reached the fusible element on
each tank valve the next and very important link in the chain of events relates to preventing the rupture of the
tanks by not permitting the pressure to build up inside of the tank because
gasoline is very volatile the vapor air mixture in a tank storing gasoline is
normally too rich to burn or explode in the tanks the tanks you saw rupture in
the film did not fail because of gasoline either burning or exploding inside of them they ruptured because
there was a buildup of pressure within the tank which was due to the long and
continued exposure to extreme heat from the fire around them this caused the liquid to boil thus
building up pressure much in the same manner that an overheated steam boiler
would build up excess pressure and bursts of it did not have a safety valve
Engineers have now designed pressure relief devices to prevent tanks from
bursting this is one of the simplest forms of pressure relief device this
vent is nothing more than a cover over an opening in the tank it is held down
by its own weight when the pressure in the tank exceeds a designated number of ounces per square inch the vent opens
allowing the pressure to be released let's see how this works well let this
flask represent the storage tank you will notice that there is some gasoline in it now I'll place this crucible in
the neck of the flask this crucible represents the pressure relief
now I'll pour a small quantity of fuel into this pan and ignite it to simulate
a tank involved in a fire when we placed the flame under the flask representing
the tank the gasoline begins to boil with this small amount of fuel it takes
only a few seconds to build up enough pressure to force the vapors out through
the pressure relief vent naturally the vapor catches fire and it continues to
burn as long as external heat is applied but this discharge of vapor prevents the
flask or tank from rupturing you will also notice that there is no fire in the
flask because there's not enough air inside of it to support combustion after
the fire around the tank has been extinguished or flushed away and the
tank has cooled the flame at the relief mint will either go out or die down to
the point where it can easily be extinguished back in 1927 when the tanks
you saw in the fire movie were installed event of this size was considered
adequate tanks installed under today's standards would also have additional
emergency relief landing capacity experience has shown that every
flammable liquid storage tank regardless of when installed should be equipped
with adequate device to relieve internal pressure many tanks not originally
equipped with these excess pressure relief vents have now been so equipped
as you have seen there were several different unfavorable conditions or
contributing factors to this disaster without a source of ignition the fire would never have started had the flow of
gasoline been shut off or shut off automatically when the loader left the
loading rack the fire would have been confined to the Dome of the truck if the
truck loading rack had been further away from the tanks has now recommended the
fire might more easily have been kept away from the tank
had the tanks been equipped with heat actuated emergency discharge control
valves the valves would have shut off the flow of fuel automatically when the
heat of the fire reached the tanks had the first firemen to arrive approached
the tanks from another direction or cut through the fence surrounding the tanks
under the protection of water fog they might have been able to shut off the
flow of fuel had the firefighting been concentrated from the side so that the
fire could be kept from under the tanks and the tanks been kept cool with water
the tanks probably would not have ruptured it's a standard practice to
fight a fire involving horizontal tanks from the sides the experience has shown
that if the tank does rupture the brake is more likely to occur at the ends had
the burning gasoline not been forced back under the tanks the tanks might not
have ruptured if at the time the tanks were built in 1927 emergency pressure
relief devices are now standard had been installed it is expected that these
tanks would have gone through this fire without rupturing many of the points
brought out in this film analysis are the result of a detailed study after the
fire was out during the progress of a fire there's little time for a detailed
study the fact that this type of fire occurs so rarely makes pre fire planning
all the more important during the calm of an ordinary working day is the time
for fire officers and plant operators to examine and discuss the physical
facilities of the plant and to lay out plans in the event of an emergency these
are some of the important lessons to be learned from this disaster it is
sincerely hoped that they will be well learned