Peninsula Daily Herald
Monday, September 15, 1924
Last 55,000 Barrel Tank of Fire Stricken Oil Tank Farm Spills Its Contents on Monterey bay; Wind Swirls Floating Furnace Toward Booth's Cannery and Municipal Wharf
The Monterey Municipal wharf and Booth's Cnanery appeared as though they were doomed to destruction by fire this afternoon when thousands of gallons of flaming oil moved across the surface of the bay from a 55,000 barrel tank of oil and came within 300 feet of those structures. Fortunately the fire burned itself out before reaching the wooden building, and wharfag.
Plans were being made today to search for dead among the ruins of the fire-stricken Associated and Standard Oil Companies yard in New Monterey as soon as the great masses of steel wreckage had sufficiently cooled.
It may be over a week before searchers can safely go into the burned area, according to the companies' officials.
The fire this afternoon was confined to one 55,000 barrel tank of heavy crude oil. This tank is located near the water's edge and is burning slowly.
At 3:50 o'clock P.M. a great cloud of smoke and flame was seen to arise fromt he last burning oil tank. It was the sign that this tank had spilled its contents onto the ground, thus probably marking the end of the dreaded holocaust.
The latest check on dead and injured gives the following:
Private Geo. Boleo, Headquarters company 11th Cavalry. From Spencer, Mass.
Private Eustace Watkins, Battery E, 76th Field Artillery. From Burlington, Vt.
Other dead are said to be in the ruins. Many reports have it that men, women and children were seen to perish in the ruins. These reports can only be verified or definitely denied after a thorough search of the ruins.
Injured are:
Joseph Machado, Monterey fireman, overcome by inhaling smoke and gas, recovered in El Adobe hospital.
Alfred Gonzales, monterey fireman, severe cuts on ankle from flying glass when heat splintered window.
Serg. H.S. Peterson, burns about the head, neck and hands.
A. Oslo, slight burns about the face.
Thomas Harper, burns about the head, neck and hands.
Rolin G. Watkins, burns about the back of the neck.
Captain F.R. Lafferty, burns about the back of the neck.
Harry Elashio, painful injuries to the groin.
The fire started at 10:30 a.m. yesterday morning after a volt of lightning during a freak storm had struck the top of an Associated Oil storage tank.
The storm had played over Monterey for twenty minutes bringing with it hail, rain, thunder and lightning. The lightning struck first a tree on the Presidio grounds, splitting the tree and throwing to the ground a soldier standing in the vicinity, the next bolt struck a dwelling in Chinatown, with no more damage than frightening the inhabitants.
The third bolt flashed to the top of the oil tank and, according to witnesses, caused the oil paper roofing of the tank to immediately become a mass of flames.
In the wink of the eye the entire top of the tank blared forth into flame and sent forth huge clouds of hideous black smoke. Great billows of the smoke rolled heaven-ward giving the first warning that an oil fire raged within the city limits.
Fire alarms brought to the scene the Monterey, New Monterey, Oak Grove, Carmel, and Pacific Grove fire departments. These pieces of apparatus brought all the hose they could handle into play. A call was sent to Salinas for the use of one of their engine pumps and within forty minutes, or shortly before noon the Salinas engine arrived.
No attempt was made to put out the fire with the eight streams of water. All the water was played on the surrounding tanks in an efofrt to keep the flames from overheating these tanks and starting new blazes.
Units from the Presidio handled the hose lines from the front on Lighthouse avenue. On the Spence street side, a half block down toward the bay from Lighthouse the Pacific Grove and Monterey fire departments played streams of water on the two tanks back of the burning container.
Across Spence street stood two other tanks of 55,000 barrels capacity. Inasmuch as the wind veered the flames away from these tanks it was not considered that they were in any danger and little or no attention wa spaid to them.
Slowly and with terrific heat the oil fire burned down into the tank. Slowly the paint on the outside of the tank could be seen peeling away from the top, marking the point at which the flaming oil level stood.
Below the tank, near the Southern Pacific tanks, which connect Pacific Grove and Monterey, the gigantic oil pumps drummed steadily in the pump house; they were sapping oil from the bottom of the burning tank at the rate of 6000 barrels an hour - they were pumping this oil ineo one of the tanks across Spence street.
A. Henderson, in charge of the pump house, declared at noon time that he figured he was lowering the oil at the rate of two and nine tenths feet per hour and that things were coming along satisfactorily.
Across the Southern Pacific tracks stood a gasoline storage tank, containing about 15,000 barrels of the highly explosive fluid. This tank was surrounded by a concrete wall thirty feet in height and ten feet thinck. Inside this wall at the top stood water eight inchees deep and was considered simple protection for the gasoline stored within.
Alongside of the gasoline storage tank was the residence of A. Johnson, local plant manager of the Associated Oil company.
Across Spence street from the Johnson home was the residence of an unnamed employee of the Associated company and next to this toward Pacific Grove was the Funston and Grove canner, the California cannery, the Mrs. Elle Morrison and the palatial home of Mrs. L.E. Murray, reputed millionaire.
All of these places were situated on the Pacific Grove side of the Associated Oil company's wharf.
Between the railroad tracks and the bay front was situated the tank of the Standard Oil company, consisting of three tanks of gasoline, one of distillate, one of kerosene and the pumping plant.
Thus was the setting of the place destined to become a seething furnace of flames.
The soldiers, eighteen in all, who were located behind Lighthouse avenue fence at the Associated tank farm, directed the four streams of water on the yet unscathed tank adjacent to the burning one. The soldiers protected themselves from the terrific heat by crouching down behind the high board fence, deparating the tank farm from the street. Boards knocked out of the fence allowed the fire nizzle to play the water without exposing the men to the heat. The men also made shields of boards and wet blankets.