The Lake County times., 1907-06-24
GIANT OIL
TANK EXPLODES
Griffith the Scene of Dis
aster That Threatens
Whole Town.
ONLY ONE IS INJURED
Accident Caused By Workman Light
ing Match-SO,oOO Barrels of
Kerosine Set Off.

with deafening report that shook
the houses TO the foundations for
miles around. and caused the peonle
to rush to the street fearing that an
earthquake had occurred, a huge OIL
tank exploded late Saturday night at
! Grlthth and for a time threatened a
great loss to life and property. The
tank IS owned by the Standard Oil
company and contained about 80 600
barrels of oil, and although some OF
the fluid was pumped out and saved
| before it caught fire, nearly one-half
was total loss.
The accident occurred shortly before
midnight Saturday and fortunately
only the gauger Of the tank. Charles
Allen was present at the time Allen
was working on the tank at the time
and was blown from the top. some dis
tance away, and received besides
shaking up a number of burns and
decorations about the face and hands.
lie dragged himself to the office where
he is employed as a telegrapher and
sent call as best he could with his
wounded fingers to Crown Point and
other nearby places, and a force of
| nifty men Were sent from these places
to help the residents of Griffith fight
efforts Of the fighters to quench it for
ten hours and was only extinguished
after trenches had been dug around
the scene of the fire
Lights II Match.
Allen was at work repairing the
gauge at the time OF the accident. He
had climbed to the tank, and as his
search light was out of order he lit
match to take his test of the gauge.
lie had been at work but few min
utes when. with a roar and a nasif Of
flame the whole structure seemed to
rise in the air. and Allen was hurled
to the ground some distance away.
The flaming fluid lit UP the country
for many miles as it flowed from the
tank. Scores of men half dressed ran
from their homes to the scene. and
with spades and shovelS started to dig
trenches to keep the fire from spread
ing to nearby houses About o'clock /
the seething cauldron inside of what
was left of the tank boiled over. send /
ing up a cloud of smoke and flame
hundreds of feet high. This added to /
the confusion and for time it seemed
as if the other tanks would be DESTROY /
ed before the fire fighters could pro
tect them. The fire bank built by the
fighters came in handy about this time
as it seemed as though the concrete I
works would be caught by the hungry |
flames as the wind swept them towards |
that building. The heat from the
burning oil drove the Drave men back
time and time again as they sought
TO check its progress.
Pumps Pressed Into Service
Later two pumps were put to work |
and by means of these instruments |
about half the oil was saved before
it took fire. Several streams of water I
were also turned on the burning fluid /
and by 10 o'clock in the morning the /
last spark was extinguished The
force of men from the surrounding
cities and towns arrived in the early /
hours of the morning and greatly aid
ed the volunteers already at work
The cause of the accident is not I
known at present. 1t is thought that
gine or from Aliens light found its
way TO the oil fumes, which took fire.
Spontaneous combustion also may have
had some part in the explosion 1t
was considered very fortunate that the
new dwellings used by the engineers.
besides the other tanks and works
were saved. A gentle wind from the
south helped matters greatly. The
people of Griffith for a time were
thrown into state bordering or a
panic and it was thought that the
whole town was doomed from the fly
ing embers and sparks. II the acci-
dent had occurred in the day time the
loss OF life would have been great. as
there are many employees working
about the big tank. The action Of
Charles Allen, the brave telegrapher.
in notifying the people Of surrounding
places on his keyboard when he was
50 badly burned, is meeting with the
appreciation of every one. 1t is
thought that the townspeople will take
action in securing a Carnegie medal
for Allen.