Evening star., 1947-06-23
Two Dead, Il Missing
After Tanker Blows Up|
In Los Angeles HdIbor|
BY ihs Asseeiossd Press

I'LL LO AHyGfG9 HulUV
BY tho Assoeiufsd Press
WILMINGTON, Calf, June 23.
AT least 2 and probably Il men
were dead today after $10,00O,-
900 ip-explosion fireLos An
.geles Harbor's costliest calamity
which only fate and foresight
apparently kept from becoming
another aTexas City"
The 11,083-ton tanker Markay|
blew up with 2,s4o.ooo gallons of
fuel In q triple explosion that razed
several docks and-harbor author
tiles said-nissed igniting huge Pc.
troleum storage tanks only because
OF favorable winds.
Two bodies were recovered from
the harbor shortly after the blast
yesterday and searchers planned
to board the shell of the tanker
today to remove others which were
spotted by Coast Guard observers
last night after the vessel stopped
burning.
The blaze-at It's height visible
about IL miles at sea-required six
hours to control.
Firemen Ready for Emergency.
The harbor, since the Texas City
disaster, had been alerted for Just
such blast. Within moments fire
equipment rolled from as far distant
as downtown Los Angeles, % miles
away, under an emergency disaster
plan, and fireboats raced out from
Long Beach.
AS an investigation began today,
II men were listed as missing. with
about 30 injured, IL sufficiently to
be hospitalized.
Cause OF the explosion was unde-
termined, but crew members
charged the operating company,
Keystone Shipping Co., of Philadel-
phia, with negligence. A company
agent, however, declared that "all
ordinary precautions and many
more" were observed.
William Anderson, division SUI
perintendent for keystone, said in
vestigation would be made at once
but refused comment until I'VE ac-
count for everybody"
Is Believed Aboard Tanker.
At least Is crew members were be-
Iieved to be aboard the Markay,
which had been loading high-octane
gasoline, when the first blast split
the 520-foot vessel at 2:05 am. yes
terday. Flames leaping 200 feet or
more, engulfed the ship, and leaped
across oil flows to the American
President Lines docks.
Surviving crewm n scrambled
down hawsers. One, Donald D.
Grams, 20, of Augusta. Wis. one of
the signers of the crewmen's COM
plant, said:
The whole main deck was In
flames. I could see men fighting
their way to the rails through the
blaze. Two of them jumped off the
fantail. They apparently thought
they couldn't make it, and turned
back toward the blazing oil which
surrounded the vessel. I never saw
them after that"
The identified dead were Joseph
w. Schwartz, 66, galleyman, and
De Forest Wilson, oiler, both of San
Francisco.
The second blast occurred less
than 20 minutes after the initial ex-
plosion. The last-and faintest-
came deep In the ships hold five
hours later.
p Three Berths Destroyed.
Three berths of the American
Lines were destroyed and another
damaged. The two Shell Oil Co.
berths where the ship was loading
were razed.
Raging heat blistered paint on
several huge tanks on the Shell
farm on 30-acre Mormon Island
Water spouts atop the tanks-20 of
which on the Shell property alone
contained 325, 900 barrels of fuel
were credited with saving an ,explo-
sion which would have wreaked ire
mendous devastation in the entire
Los Angeles-Long Beach harbor
area.
The wind, which held the blaze
seaward until firefighters could
converge to bring it under control,
also helped avert disaster.
M. B. Shove, Shell spokesman,
said the Markay had loaded 2,940,-
900 gallons of automobile gasoline
consigned for Martinez, Calf, and
listed four Shell dock workers
among the missing.
Freighter Has Narrow Escape.
No other vessels were lost, but the
Maunalei, q Matson freighter, mar
rowly escaped the flames floating on
the water. Fireboats and Navy YES
sells saved her. Five nearby vessels
were moved quickly out of danger.
The Texas Co.'S Office was
smashed by a huge steel chunk
which hurtled 300 feet from the
Markay. Two adjacent warehouses
looked as if a giant had walked on
them. All windows in another four
story warehouse were shattered.
Residents of Long Beach, miles
away, were jolted from their sleep.
Over all hung dense pail of smoke,
rising to hundreds of feet.
| Mystery was injected into the ex-
| plosion-for which no cause was
| Immediately given-by the state
ment Of Police 1t. George Robert
son that the vessel was loading
butane. This was denied by both
Shell and keystone representatives.
Port Warden Frank Higbee de-
c1ared IL was gasoline