Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Fifty Year Anniversary of Deadly Southwest Boulevard Petroleum Fire



I
t was already hot by 10 am on August 18- 1959 and this almost 7-year-old turned on Channel 4 hoping to catch some cartoons.


There was a gas station on fire on Southwest Boulevard at the state line being broadcast live.

What I soon caught was WDAF-TV reporter John Herrington screaming into a microphone that some gasoline tanks at 30 Southwest Boulevard had just exploded and that Herrington "was getting the Hell out of" there.

Channel 4 continued live coverage that deadly August day from a camera perched on the roof of their 31st Street and Southwest Trafficway studios.

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the fire and explosion on Southwest Boulevard that killed 6- five of them firefighters.
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