Albuquerque citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1907-1909, 1908-06-13
EXPLODING TANKS
THREATEN ONL0OKERS
Spectacle of Burning OIL Attracts
Thousands Of Spectators Who
Become frightened and
Trdmple Each Other in IF
fort to Escape Danger.

The third of a series of similar dis
asters to property of the Continental
oil company in New Mexico, occur
ring within a fortnight. transpired
last night when the warehouse and
the storage tanks in the northern
part OF the city, the largest distribut-
ing paint in the southwest, were de-
stroyrd by fire. The origin of the
fire 5 not known, and the losses had
not been ascerta ned at a late hour
today, but it Is estimated that they
VIII amount to between $4,000 and
$4,000, buildings and oil. This was
d total loss as the company carries its
own insurance.
The fire started beneath the west
platform of the main warehouse,
shortly before o'clock, as told in
The Citizen yesterday Men working
within few feet of the place are
unable to explain its origin. 1t was
ten minutes of O'clock when the
blaze was discovered. BY o'clock
the warehouse was a mass of flames,
80 rapidly did tine fire spread. The
office force gathered up armioads of
books, closed the doors of the iron
safe in the building and fled, carry
ing the books away with them.
Employees were ordered to open all
the tanks IN the yard This precau-
ton probably saved the fire from
spreading to the McLaughln-G -Gunsul
wood and coal yard a short distance
away, the Lemp's brewery storage de-
pot and residences a half block away.
as the vents in the tanks permitted
the gas arising from the heated oil to
escape almost as fast as it formed.
The report that the Continental Oil
company depot was on fire spread
rapidly and several thousand people
were witnessing the spectacle within
half an hour after it started.
When the tanks were opened the
oil flooded the yard and soon became
a seething mass of flames, sending up
a dense cloud of black smoke The
heat became terrific.
Firemen played streams on build
ings a hundred feet away at the peril
of being burned The heat was so
great that the nozzlemen had to be
changed every few minutes
At fifteen minutes of o'clock a
spiral of flames was seen to issut
from the vent in the top of one of
the larger tanks. There followed a
noise like that made by great sky
rocket and n sheet of flame shot 200
feet into the air. Having spent its
force the fiery body broke and spread
out like the water of a fountain. The
QUEER edges descended. it seemed al
most to the earth.
People fled in a panic, everyone APP
parenuy bent on saving his own life,
The weaker ones were knocked down
and trampled in the stampede one
woman tainted. Several were bruised
and otherwise injured. Several teams
broke away from their drivers and
fled in fright. Two runaways cOllid-
I'D. one horse was knocked down and
a wagon dragged over it. It was mir
aculous that no one was killed.
The oil burned out before reaching
the ground and the explosion did nc
damage, but the spectators kept q
safer distance from the fire after that
as it was supposed that there was ",
one tank that had not exploded.
Tho fire burned so fiercely that
trains could not pass on the santa Ft
tracks forty feet to the east Of tho
main warehouse for more than two
hours Tho switch track 20 the
building was destroyed, the ties being
burned and the rails warped.
All nght the fire burned and it 4:
stul burung today The brick offc,
buiElu- which is north Of the stor'
axe u. KS was saved The rest Of the
large plan. is in total destruction.
The shortage in oil the city is ex-
perie1..u- today Will he broken Mon
day. according 90 officers of the COM
pany Fresh supplies We're tele'
graphed for last night and word wa!
received today that shipments had al
ready been made for this point.
Tho burning of the Continental Oi
company property here, following ;.
closely after the fires suffered by tn,
company at Demiug and Carlsbad, Il
considered a strange Coinc dence. !
5. Keeping, manager for the com
pany, only last night returned from
visiting the scene OF a similar tir'
at Carlsbad. and the week before wa.
called 10 bemiug by still another dis
aster The loss at Carlsbad was esti
mated at nearly $4,000. This fir
was said to have beet caused by spon
taneous combustion. A man wa.
pumping from a large tank into
smaller one, when all at once he wa