Tewksbury Chief William Chandler and fireman Ken Mallison proudly stand by the new Engine 1 delivered May 1. It replaces Engine five destroyed in the Feb 9 gas explosion. The apparatus features a 1250 gallons per minute pumper, a 50 gallon water tank, 1000 gpm for the deluge gun and a high expansion foam system. Because of cooperation from American LaFrance, the engine was delivered quickly. Normally delivery takes about 1½ years.
Today, firefighters and a funeral were the order of the day for me. I guess I can connect that to this blog seeing as The Great Broad Street Riot was caused by the clash between firefighters and a funeral procession.
My uncle was a member of the Fire Department in my town. I am such a firefighter fangirl it borders on sickening. I can't help myself, so at the mercy meal after the services, I had to sit at the table with the Honor Guard from the fire department. Talk turned to the biggest fire ever in Tewksbury, a propane tanker that exploded on the grounds of the Lowell Gas storage facility on February 9, 1972. The blast was less than a eight of a mile from my house. I had just stepped out the door on my way to the car so we could evacuate when the tanker exploded. It shot a mushroom cloud of fire about two hundred feet into the air. The two firefighters with me at the table pointed out and named each man in the hall who had been there that night. Their voices lowered in abject awe, their eyes glowing with admiration. Half the fire department was injured that night, one was killed. They told me how everyone in the department dreams about having a lifetime fire like that one. Maybe that's where my love comes from, they're as batshit crazy as I am. Comrades! After that explosion, my uncle became acting Captain. Newspaper articles and a magazine story about the disaster are available here.
I guess no one can accuse the execs of the company of hyperbole for this press release the next morning: At 5:15a.m. the Lowell Gas Company issued a statement that a minor fire at the plant was under control.
I had to ask them about Rescue Me, and was happy to find that they love the show, though they were quick to add that it's nothing like the job. Denis Leary was on The Daily Show tonight and the fifth season won't be on until next March! Damn!
Engine One today.
3 comments:
I'd been visiting friends in Lowell the night of that explosion and had come down Whipple instead of my usual route along Chapman, right by the entrance to Lowell Gas. As I approached the Whipple/Pleasant St. intersection, there were flagmen frantically directing Whipple traffic up Pleasant toward the center of town. I paused and asked what was going on and was told "Get your ass out of here." I obeyed. At about 300 feet up the road, the tanker exploded with a truly sickening sound and the entire sky brightened, casting all I could see in an orange light. The windshield made snapping noises and I hit the gas, waiting for a rain of fire to descend. I took Helvetia to Chandler St. and people were driving insanely: a couple of cars just stopped, pulled u-turns and headed back toward the danger zone. On my street, a then-neighbor on the corner was standing outside in the frigid February night clad only in panties and bra and I could hear her screaming that it was the end of the world. I got home, like you about 1/8th mile, and found the house unlocked and already evacuated. At that point, glowing cinders were landing on the snow-covered lawn. I ran into to get a few things. As I was closing the door to head to my aunt's place in South Tewksbury, my parents drove up, saying they'd been told that it was all right to return, so I never evacuated. I recall reading that if the whole place had gone up it would take a 5-mile radius. A frightening night for many and a tragic night for those killed and injured and their families. JB also told me she could see a huge glow on the night horizon from Kenmore at the Myles Standish BU dorm.
God that's so weird - my grandfather was a Lowell firefighter so I'm sure they knew each other.
Is the Caswell Motel still there?!
The Motel Ka-swell, as I call it, indeed survives and it burns with a different kind of fire. Heart shaped hot tubs in every room. My grandparents lived in the big house across the street with the summer vegetable stand. Loved that place. Now it's a 99 and a Dunkee D's.
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