Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-02-16
OIL TANKS AbLAzE
NEAR NEW CASTLE
SOARING TOWNFOLK
Spectacular Fire at Baldt Plant of
Penn Seaboard Steel Co.
Causes Much Alarm.
EXPLOSION STARTS FLAMES

Shortly before one O'Clock this morning
q mysterious explosion blew up n big,
70.O00-gallon oil tank at the Baldt plant
of the Pcnn-Scaboard Steel Co, just
north of New Castle The oil Immediately
caught fire, the flames leaping into the
air To q distance Of about 100 feet
Later the flames attacked another
tank, setting fire to it's contents, and
shortly after . o'clock this morning thus
went up and the fire reached one OF the
plant buildings nearby. The original
explosion severely shook the city and
caused n great deal of excitement Just
how il happened is not known but there
arc suspicious that it was the result OF
pro-Ccrnian plottings
The building to which the flro COM
municated itself was that formerly oc-
cupicd bv the New Castle Chemical Co,
a subsidiary of the l'aldt company,
two-story. 30 by 60, structure, which was
used as o ces. II was completely dc
stro ed. The total loss caused by the
fine will be somewhere between $1,000 u
an SI5OO00 There were no explosives
in or noar the plant.
The hrc is likely to tie the rlant up for
a couple Of weeks. a the oil urncd repre
sents to large degree the fuel that would
inm dia su ply can q obtained tho
works must close This will be a great
hardship 10 the 700 mploves who will he
ont OF work in the meanwhile. 4 big
government or or for shells will also he
retarded The plant has been working
on this Job he manufacture ot shell
castings. for some time. No shells have
been loaded at the plant, the castings
being scnt elsewhere for that purpose.
The ignition Of the office building was
most unexpected and caught q number Of
persons inside the structure. Before they
could get ont Edward Ilushebec sus-
tanned burns on the face and William J.
IRnahan was cut bv breaking glass.
Others in tho building were Chief Chemist
William ]. kuebler Fay MacChcsncy,
chief Inspector for the British govern
mcnt, Walter Dougherty, shipping lnspcc-
tor. James Sherer, Edward Iioyti Edward
Noble, John Callaghan, Allen Macdonald
and Roy Swayne All these got out IN
safety.
4 number of the employees rushed from
their places Of employment not realizing
v hat the affair meant until they saw the
flames shoot in a few minutes to height
Of more than IS TO 100 feet in the sir.
The chemical engines of the company,
with those of the Good Will Fire Co, and
several Wilmington companies, were soon
on the scene, and employees OF the works
went to the roofs with hose TO protect the
buildings Men At the plant Of Plant {,
of the American Manganese Steel Co, look
cd after that building TO be prepared Tor
any emergency and to keep the works free
from the blaze, which formed into huge
black balls and then burst IN the AIR IN
a measure not unlike fireworks. At
distance the blaze presented lurld
glow that was quite spectacular
A second tank located about 200 feet
distant from the one that exploded was
filled hut a few days ago from one OF
feet OF barges and contained, IT is said,
as much oil a. WAS in the first tank and
the flame set on fire the oil therein and
the blaze caused great fear, but no
explosion occurred. The flames shot high
into the air and toward the Delaware
river, because of the wind blowing from
the westward.
he cause the FIRE Is a mystery TO
the ials, because there are no fires IN
the vicinit of the tank and there are no
electric light wires in that locality No
leak was known and an investigation Is
being ade TO try and ascertaI the cause.
RESIDENT who a rst feared that the
explosion they heard was caused by one
of the powder magazines at Bethle-
hem works, sout of this city, were as
founded at the e~severity of the shock.
There will be no delay in install ing
new tanks and oils for use in the furnaces.
The blaze lighted up the northern section
of the city and the time on the dial of
the clock In the tower of Emmanuel
Episcopal Church, the greater part Of
of mile from the works,
coul be- read easily.
The loss Is estimated at more than
500 900, In OILS an as much more on the
tanks.