Los Angeles herald., 1908-01-28
FOUR HURT
MEXPLOSION;;
$4,000 LOST
PACIFIC ELECTRIC OIL TANKS
DESTROYED
REDoNDo RESERVOIR DAMAGED
BY FIRE
Carelessness Is Blamed by Engineer
for Accdent-lnjured Brought to
Los Angeles Hospital for
Treatment

-Four men were seriously burned and
q three-compaTt concrete reservoir
was wrecked as the result of an ex-
plosion of oil in the storage reservoir
adjoining the main building of the cleo
tric generating station of the Pacific
Electric Railway company at Redondo
at 6 o'clock last night.
The injured men are:
A. Y. MEUDELL, operating engineer
in charge of the plant;
w. e. THOMPSON, assistant en-
gineer
w. J. SHIPLEY, fireman;
CHARLES NULL. fireman.
The reservoir is level with the ground
and connected with the main building
of the plant. The covering is of boards
and each compartment has a three-foot
opening at the top.
Shipley whose duty was to take the
temperature o. the oil at regular inter-
walls, is said to have gone to compart-
ment No. l for that purpose. The cleo
tric light had burned out, and Shipley
secured a lantern and went back to
read the gauge The gas rising from
the opening ignited and exploded, set
ting fire to the oil in the other compart-
ments and scattering the blazing fluid
over the top.
In a few seconds the roof of the tanks
was a mass of flames. Shirley was
hurled from the roaring fire, his cloth
ing on fire and his face, neck and legs
badly burned
Explosion Cracks Walls
The force OF the explosion cracked
the walls of the engine room, which
adjoins the storage tank, and Meudell,
Thompson and Null, who were there,
were frightfully burned by the liquid
fire.
The injured men we're anointed with
olive oil and bandaged, and Thompson
and Null the most seriously burned,
were placed aboard a special car and
hurried to Los Angeles to the emer-
gency hospital. Meudell at first would
not consent to accompany them TO Los
Angeles and telephoned DR.. w. IL
Pritchard to come to Redondo' Inc
injured man finally consented TO pe
taken to the hospital and was placed
aboard another special car and sent to
Los Angeles.
Shipley. whose condition is not con-
sidered as critical as that of the 9TH
ers. remained at Redondo and went
to his home, where he is being treated.
The damage is estimated to be $5000
Two thousand barrels of oil were de-
stroyeo and two boilers were scorched.
That the loss was not greater is due
TO the fact that flames were confined to
the reservoir The high wind made 1t
difficult for firemen to control the nre.
They fought the blazing oil with sand,
which they used to smother the flames.
A "shovel brigade" was formed and
efforts were made toward keeping the
burning oil from creeping through the
crevices in the walls of the engine
room.
Fire Dies Out
At 9:SO O'Clock the fire had nearly
died out. Men in charge of the plant
\ fN1sDe
force by morning.
William Thompson, assistant engi
neer at the plant, and Charles Null,
negro fireman. both of whom were
among the victims of the explosion,
were the first to reach the emergency
hospital. They were, brought IN on
the Los Angeles-Pacifc line and met
at the Fourth street station by an
ambulance. Both men had been treated
at Redondo and were bandaged from
head to foot when taken from the car
The third victim of the explosion
A. Y. Meudell was severely burned by
the force of the flames which leaped
from the tanks into the boiler room;
He was brought in about o'clock, ana
though able to walk was badly burned
about the face, neck and arms. 1t was
said his hair had been entirely burned
off his head.
w. ]. Shipley will not be taken from
1
Accompanying the victims to Los
Angeles were several employees of the
plant, two of whom were slightly DIS
tered in the fire but who forgot their
own injuries to assist in the work OF
ameliorating the condition or those WHO
were more injured.
1.-THE accident was due in a degree,
perhaps to carelessness, yet 1t resulted
from breaking a rule which had often
been broken before without result.
Finds Light Out
"Shipley, at regular periods, is sup
posed to read the temperatures OF the
three big tanks, beginning at tank NO
l. He went to the tanks 70 do so when
he discovered an electric light near the
indicator had gone out-just as 1t had
frequently done before.
There are three tanks, holding 5000
gallons of oil, which is used as fuel for
the Pacific Electric and Power COM
pany's plant The latter furnishes 49,
900 kiloWats and is known as central
supply station, feeding nearly all the
Huntington interurban lines. The
nks. called Nos. 1, 2 and 8, are set
wn in the ground adjoining the en-
ne and boiler rooms and the tops of
am are on level with the floor
.i herWtse the explosion would have
been more terrible in its consequences
le tanks are open at the top by hole
out three feet square
When Shipley observed the electric
int would not work he returned to the
gine room and procured a lantern
lis he placed near the tank to dis
rn the temperature tube, and as he
/ so the gases which always arise
pm crude oil ignited.
rhe force of the flames. which
read instantly to the adjoining tank,
}. 1, threw Shipley into the boiler
pm. His clothing was aflame but
some manner he extinguished the
2, although not until severely burned
In spite of his condition, Shipley
all the way to his home, several
acks off, and 1t was not till the
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