It became clear in a few brief moments that this was indeed a disaster. Every piece of equipment available anywhere was dispatched to the scene. Improvised rescue squads were organized and rushed into the area. Page 249 there, and I went along. Over the whole area for miles hung an impenetrable pall of smoke over a raging fire.
Word spreads fast in a disaster.
Hundreds of relatives and friends pressed against the police barriers. Only police and firemen could penetrate the great fenced-off territory. There is danger of another explosion. Every newspaper reporter is inevitably a witness to tragedy and horror. I had in my time seen a dozen men walk alive into the death chamber at the Ohio Penitentiary and come out dead in wicker baskets after they had been electrocuted in the name of society to pay for their crimes.