1963 — Jan 2, Home Meat Packing Co. Natural Gas Explosion, Terre Haute, IN — 17
–17 Anderson Herald, IN. “Terre Haute Explosion Toll Increased to 17.” 2-21-1963, p. 28.*
–17 Logansport Press, IN. “Blast Rivals Rail Wreck as Worst State Disaster.” 11-2-1963, p. 5.
–17 Loughlin. “Jan. 2…anniversary…Packing plant explosion.” Tribune Star, Terre Haute, 12-23-2012.
–17 Tribune Star, IN (Sue Loughlin). “Jan. 2 is 50th anniversary of deadly Home…” 12-23-2012.
–16 Bugbee. “Fire Protection Developments in 1963.” NFPA Quarterly, V57/N3, Jan 1964, 212.
–16 National Fire Protection Association. Key Dates in Fire History. 1996.
–16 NFPA. “Reports of Important Fires…Explosions…” Quarterly, 57/2, Oct 1963, p. 177.
–16 Wabash Valley Profiles. Home Packing Co.
* Death of Ernest Reed on Feb 19 brought death-toll to seventeen.
Narrative Information
NFPA, 1963: “A violent explosion, probably natural gas that seeped into the Home Packing Company’s plant in Terre Haute, Indiana, demolished the building and killed 16 employees. Thirty other employees were hospitalized and 22 were treated for injuries and released. There was no fire following the explosion, but fire fighters worked for 28 hours before recovering the last body.
“The unsprinklered, 2-story and basement, mostly fire-resistive connected group of buildings housed complete slaughtering, rendering, packing, and shipping operations and offices. Floors were reinforced concrete, supported by protected steel and reinforced concrete columns. Partitions within the building were tile and brick. Finish was mostly open, and stairs and elevator were not enclosed.
“Operations had stopped for the New Year’s holiday on Friday evening, December 28. Between the close of business and reopening on the morning of January 2, a central-station-supervised watchman made regular hourly rounds throughout the plant and noticed no unusual conditions. At 6:00 A.M. on January 2, about 125 workmen returned to work at the plant. At 7:00 A.M. another 75 employees started work. Apparently none of them, or at least none of those who survived, noticed any unusual conditions.
“At 7:02 an explosion occurred in the southeast corner of the basement, causing complete collapse of that portion of the building and partial collapse of the adjoining area… Many employees were buried in the rubble. Besides the 16 killed, 7 were injured critically. The force of the explosion upset a boxcar on a siding at the east end of the building….
“Investigation disclosed a break in an underground gas main about 25 feet from the southeast corner of the building, near the intersection of Chestnut Street and North First Street…At this point, a 12-inch sewer line ran abut 18 inches above and across the gas line and was connected to building drains at the east side of the building. The Terre Haute area had been subjected to a prolonged period of freezing rain which resulted in extensive areas of ice encrustation as much as 1-inch thick. This could have prevented escape of leaking gas to above ground, and the gas could have followed the sewer piping or some other avenue into the building. The source of ignition was probably an electrical spark at the elevator motor or controls.” (NFPA. “Reports of Important Fires…Explosions and Fire in Terre Haute, Indiana.” Quarterly, V57, N2, Oct 1963, pp. 177-179.)
Loughlin, Dec 2012 Tribune Star: “….The blast — which occurred just after 7 a.m. — imploded one-third of the large, two-story brick meat processing plant at 400 N. First St., crumbling its walls and transforming machine parts into missiles. Seventeen employees died and more than 50 were injured….
“According to an article written by historian Mike McCormick for the 40-year anniversary of the tragedy, workers returned to the plant after a four-day holiday layoff when the explosion occurred just after 7 a.m. The explosion caused the roof and ceilings to collapse, burying many of the 200 employees who had reported for duty only minutes before, he wrote….
“Most employees inside the building heard the explosion, variously described as “a door slam,” “a large gush of wind,” “a dull thud” or “a rumbling.”
“Lights flickered for a moment before everything went black. The roof collapsed and then each floor below caved in. Several men were entombed in basement coolers under brick, concrete and steel debris, which blocked the doors to rescue crews.
“Efforts to reach victims were impaired by scalding hot steam from cracked boilers and ammonia fumes escaping from damaged refrigeration equipment, McCormick wrote….
“Mine personnel helped shore up the wrecked building to prevent collapse during rescue operations. Cranes, bulldozers, drag lines and trucks furnished by private companies supplemented city street department equipment.
“In the weeks following the tragedy, 64 lawsuits were initiated against the Terre Haute Gas Corp. by injured employees and the families of those killed.
“Investigators associated the explosion with several leaks in gas mains surrounding the plant, according to McCormick’s article. The focal point of the blast, it was concluded, was under the loading docks. There was evidence that leaking natural gas may have accumulated for several days under frozen top soil and, during the four-day New Year’s holiday shutdown, seeped into the closed building.
“The plant, which had covered about two city blocks and employed about 300 people, did not resume operations, citing financial losses caused by the tragedy.
“Home Packing & Ice Co., which had opened in 1907, processed and distributed Dependable brand hams, bacon and lard….”
“The following are the names of the 17 men who lost their lives in a gas explosion at the Home Packing Co. plant:
Carl Bender
James Buttrey
John Joseph Callahan
Henry James Cottrell
Larry Lee Crum
Joseph Davitto
Darl Gene Garred
Jack Raymond Hayes
Wallace V. Hughes
Homer Isle
John A. Joseph St.
George David Kahl
Ernest Reed
William Renner
Andrew A Rupska
Donald W. Scott
James Trosper Jr.”
(Loughlin, Sue, “Jan. 2 is 50th anniversary of deadly Home Packing plant explosion.” Tribune Star, Terre Haute, IN. 12-23-2012.)
Wabash Valley Profiles: “At about 7 a.m. on January 2, 1963, an explosion caused by a natural gas leak in the utility line demolished the plant, killing 16 employees and injuring 52 others…. The disaster occurred only 18 months after Home Packing had completed a three-year building and remodeling program. The plant was not rebuilt.” (Wabash Valley Profiles. Home Packing Co.)
Newspapers at the time
Jan 3: “About 200 day workers had just reported for duty when the blast demolished about one-third of the two-story red brick meat packing plant about 7:30 a.m. (CST).” (Anderson Herald, IN. “Toll Believed 16 in Plant Explosion at Terre Haute,” 1-3-1963.)
Jan 4: “Terre Haute, Ind. (UPI) — A task force headed by fire and gas explosion experts today probed for the cause of the meat packing plant explosion here that killed 16 men. ‘It looks like everything blew from the bottom up and everything caved in,’ said Ray McManus, assistant fire chief here. Rescue workers combed the debris of the 54-year-old two-story brick building which had housed the Home Packing Co. for 28 hours before they pulled the last victim from the rubble. Three of 58 men injured remained in critical condition.” (Logansport Pharos Tribune, IN. “Probe Cause of Terre Haute Blast.” 1-4-1963, p. 1.)
Feb 21: “Terre Haute, Ind. (AP) – A 26-year-old father of six died in Union Hospital Tuesday [Feb 19] of injuries suffered Jan. 2 in the explosion that destroyed the Home Packing Co. The death of Ernest Reed of Paris, Ill, raised the explosion’s death toll to 17. The others died the day of the blast. Reed was one of the 52 persons injured and had undergone three operations in the past six weeks.” (Anderson Herald, IN. “Terre Haute Explosion Toll Increased to 17.” 2-21-1963, p. 28.)
Sources
Anderson Herald, IN. “Terre Haute Explosion Toll Increased to 17.” 2-21-1963, p. 28. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=63941239
Anderson Herald, IN. “Toll Believed 16 in Plant Explosion At Terre Haute,” Jan 3, 1963. At: http://www3.gendisasters.com/indiana/1952/terre-haute,-meat-packing-plant-explosion,-jan-1963?page=0%2C1
Bugbee, Percy (NFPA General Manager). “Fire Protection Developments in 1963.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 57, No. 3, January 1964, p. 212.
Logansport Pharos Tribune, IN. “Probe Cause of Terre Haute Blast.” 1-4-1963, 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=85113885
Logansport Press, IN. “Blast Rivals Rail Wreck as Worst State Disaster.” 11-2-1963, 5. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=84400396
Loughlin, Sue. “Jan. 2 is 50th anniversary of deadly Home Packing plant explosion.” Tribune Star, Terre Haute, IN, 12-23-2012. Accessed 2-14-2020 at: https://www.tribstar.com/news/local_news/jan-is-th-anniversary-of-deadly-home-packing-plant-explosion/article_99f0bbb2-24a1-58dc-bd66-3d0678ffac7c.html
National Fire Protection Association. Key Dates in Fire History. 1996, 2010. Accessed at: http://www.nfpa.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=1352&itemID=30955&URL=Research%20&%20Reports/Fire%20statistics/Key%20dates%20in%20fire%20history&cookie%5Ftest=1
National Fire Protection Association. “Reports of Important Fires…Explosions and Fire in Terre Haute, Indiana.” Quarterly, Vol. 57, No. 2, October 1963, pp. 177-179.
Wabash Valley Profiles. Home Packing Co. Accessed 1-20-2009 at: http://web.indstate.edu/community/vchs/wvp/homepacking.pdf