Evening star., 1947-03-10
Ten Die in Explosions
And Week End Fires;
l475 Saved in 7 Hotels
By ths Assssiafsd Press

Fires and explosions, one Of them
. spectacular natural gas explosion
In Oklahorna, caused the deaths oi
10 persons over the week end.
One man was killed and fouY
others injured In the explosion last
night at gas compressor station
near Blackwell, Okla. For more
than an hour q l00-foot column ot
dame roared up from the station.
Three war veterans trapped BY
flames In an Indianapolis roomine
house were among the victims. Two
lchildren were burned fatally when
their home ct Des Moines, Iowa,
went up in flames. A Chicago apart
ment fire cost three lives. A 79-year-
old man In Norwich, N. Y, died after
his clothing caught fire.
It's Escape in Hotel Fire.
In York, Pa, about IT'S guests
escaped injury in a fire at the
seven-story Hotel Colonial, which
caused damage tentatively estimated
at $3.50, 900. Police said the guests
evacuated the structure "like re-
hearsed drill" and q newly con-
structed flre wall was credited with
saving their lives.
Quick action by two restaurant
employees and hotel manager aided
in the escape Of 800 guests from
the Lake Hotel in downtown Gary
as fire swept the west wing yester-
day morning. \
The manager. Mrs. Rosahe Gross
said she stayed at the telephone
switchboard long enough to warn
all guests after Mrs. Rose Klein
and Mrs. Irwin Simon. restaurant
managers, reported the fire.
In Philadelphia, q fire ragged fol-
two hours last night across the
street from Independence Hall, fol
a time threatening the historic
structure. Twenty-four flremer
were overcome by smoke, none seri.
ously. Another Philadelphia fire
confined to the ninth floor Of ths
Sheraton Hotel, resulted in no cas-.
ualties.
Seven New York firemen wer,
burned by sticky, burning chemical
that exploded in the basement Of {
factory building where they wer.
"wetting down" after bringing {
blaze under control.
$1,000,000 Damage.
Cities Service Gas Co. officials es.
timated the damage in the Okla.
homa explosion at more than ST.
O00, 900.
l OF the four-man crew on duty al
the time of the explosion, Ralph
Ewing Mccormick. SO, an oiler, wa.
killed; Doyne H. Powledge, 81, alse
an oiler, and Carl Daniels, As, en-.
gineer, were critically burned.
The fourth crew member, Jerome
Davis, an engineer, was stunned but
escaped serious burns by running tt
his automobile, parked in a small
frame garage. Throwing the car ir
low gear, he crashed 1t through thu
back OF the building and racee
across a field to safety.
Scott w. Hunsaker, jr., 20. was ir
the Office building when the blast
came. He suffered severe burns.
| Buildings housing the booster
plant. auxiliary plant, Office build.
ing and cooling tower were almost
completely razed.
Users Gas Shut OF.
S. B. Irelan, president Of the gas
company, said at Oklahoma City
that industrial gas users in Kansas
and Missouri would be shut of until
normal service Is restored, probably
tomorrow.
He said a smaller "by-pass" line
is being used in the emergency
handling $4,000, 900 cubic feet Of gas
daily, compared with the 100 1000, ,00t
NORMALLY handled. 4@ ~ -
"A gas header at the outlet of the
plant exploded" Mr.. Irelan said
Apparently the line gave way un-
der the severe pressure and the gas
was ignited by hot machinery In the
plant"