Arizona republican., 1917-12-27

The injured:
 Edwin Van Daele, proprietor of the tire shop. burned about the head, face chest and hands; is expected to die
 Mack Luckett. an employe of the shop, seriously burned about the face, arms and body; is expected to recover.
 Earl Gallion, an employe of the Fred Butler metal works; burned about the face and hands; not serious.
 Van Daele and Luckett were in the act of opening the gasoline contalner The metal cap was turned down tghtly and it was necessary to employ ham, mer and cold chisel in order to loosen it. As the cap finally turned and flew off. spark from the chisel caused the gasoline to ignite and a terrific eX- plosion followed. Instantly flames en- veloped Van Daele and Luckett, who blinded and suffering as the burning fluid penetrated their clothing, ran through the shop and out into First avenue. Van Daele staggered south, while Luckett dashed across the ave- nue, through the court house plaza and did not pause until he was within the court house building. His cries brought officials and clerks to his rescue and these succeeded in extinguishing the flames which threatened him with ere. nation. Then Deputy Sheriff Charles Nafzinger placed him in a county car and made a record run to the Arizona Deaconness Hospital where Dr. Car michael did what he could to relieve his agony.
 As Van Daele ran along First avenue, George Moody. a barber at 29 First avenue saw his plight and grabbing blanket on display in front of a small dry goods store nearby, threw it about Van Daele and rolled him about until the flames were extinguished. Later the ambulance was called and Van Daele was removed to the Sisters Hos pital where Dr. R. W. Craig attended him. According to word from Dr. Craig last evening. Van Daele will hardly recover, such a large area being burned.
 | Earl Gallion, employed as timer by Fred Butler. whose place is next that of the Van Daele shop. was standing at his bench when the explosion occurred. | The flames overlook him before he could make his escape and he was bad ly burned about the face and arms. He was later removed to his home. | While the work of saving the lives | of the men who were in the pathway Of the fiery blast was in progress, an alarm of fire was sounded and the en- | tire department responded. While a wide area was then in flames the de- partment quickly placed the fire under control. There was practically no loss to the buildings involved beyond slightly scorched walls and broken windows.
 When the explosion occurred all sorts of wild rumors spread quickly about town Some were that a building had been blown up and seven people killed that the l. W. W. had placed bomb in the building, that vulcanizer had blown up and that the building had fallen in and caused a fire. A careful investigation by Fire Chief Wright finally retermined the real cause of the explosion and the subsequent fire.
 The building in the rear of whict the explosion occurred is owned by Mrs T. W. Pemberton and any loss she sustained is covered by insurance.
 Van Daele is a Belgian who has g son in the navy of the United States fighting for that far-off land which k under the heel of the German warlord He had but recently recovered from al illness and his physical condition add! to the improbability of his recovering from the burns he received.