April 3, 1962 Chemical Explosion at the Van Tassel Plant Kills Four Firefighters
On April 3, 1962, the Norwich fire department lost
four men in a violent and fiery explosion at the Van Tassel warehouse.
Killed in the tragedy were Captain William Sheridan, Leonard Counihan,
Edward Romano and Carl Burke. An employee reported smoke coming from the
trailer of a truck that was being unloaded at the dock. The truck was
carrying a 20-ton load of organic peroxides from New York that may have
been ignited by friction or a leak. The initial call to dispatch was at
1:22 pm and Engine 1 and 3 were sent to the scene at the dead end of Forest
Street. Box 125 was received at 1:25 pm and Norwich Engines 2 and the
ladder truck were dispatched, as well. Engine 1 secured a water supply
and pulled past the trailer. Engine 3 arrived and stopped just short of
the truck’s tractor. Five firefighters crouched behind the concrete
loading-platform wall to direct a 2-½ inch hose stream into the
rear of the smoldering trailer. The van exploded killing 3 of the 5 firefighters
behind the wall. Another firefighter from Engine 3 was caught in the fireball
and killed. The two remaining firefighters had to wait 30 minutes to be
rescued due to the severity of the fire that followed. The wooden warehouse
buildings, containing approximately one million pounds of bagged charcoal
briquettes, were blown down and began to burn. Engine 1 and 3 were destroyed.
The explosion caused damage throughout a large portion of the city and
was felt as far away as Montville and Preston. The tractor-trailer was
placarded appropriately, for the time, with “Dangerous” on
both sides and rear.
Governor John Dempsey said, “The death of four firemen is a terrific
price to pay but I hope the one result of the disaster will be better
identification of carriers transporting explosives and better control
over those cargoes in transit so that these tragic occurrences will cease.”
This tragedy did lead to stricter guidelines for transportation and placarding
of hazardous materials for the entire country.
This story was compiled using the following copyrighted material as reference:
NFPA July Quarterly – July 1962
The Hartford Times – Dennis J. Riley
Fire Engineering – June 1962