Two Volunteer Firemen Killed by Asphalt Blast
Terrifying explosions and roaring fire wrecked the half-million dollar asphalt plant at the California Refining Company, Perth Amboy, N. J., June 23, 1949, causing death to two volunteer firemen and a company employee, and injuries to eight others, including two firemen. Two of the injured are on the critical list.
The two firemen, Lawrence Dambach, 52, and Howard Adams, 35, who perished, were engulfed by flaming hot asphalt when a tank took off shortly after 3:00 P.M. The company employee received fatal burns in an earlier blast.
Perth Amboy’s entire fire department, aided by plant employees, fought the fire for five hours before controlling it. They were aided also by crews of fire control specialists from the nearby Shell Oil Company and American Oil Company at Carteret. Fire fighters from Woodbridge, and first aid squads from neighbpring areas, together with the disastefcunit of the Perth Amboy General Hospital, comprised of 15 doctors and 30 nurses, were in action.
According to Second Assistant Fire Chief “Alex Pietraska, of the Perth Amboy Fire Department, who himself had a narrow escape from death, when firemen arrived at the plant it looked as though a bomb had dropped on it. Hair and eyebrows were singed as the men hooked up lines and advanced through slime and melted tar to reach what appeared to be the center of the fire. Adams and Dumbach were on a foam nozzle, about five feet ahead of Howard Adam’s brother, Harry. The Chief was about, five or ten feet behind Harry and both were lighting up the line for the men at the pipe.
The first two men got in between two tanks which were described as steaming, spitting and whistling and they trained their stream on the center of the fire. Suddenly there was a whine like the noise associated with the dropping of a bomb. Chief Pietraska yelled to the men to get back, as it looked as if a tank was going to blow. As the chief and men began to run, there came a terrific blast, which caught the two nearest men. Howard Adams and Dumbach were thrown into a three-foot deep pit filled with molten asphalt and burned to death.
Large quantities of foam were employed in controlling the blaze, which at times threw fire hundreds of feet into the air. The column of black smoke could be seen in New York City, 25 miles distant.
Numbers of fire fighters had narrow escapes fighting the treacherous flames, several of them being badly burned by the flaming tar and hot asphalt. First aid units treated many at the scene; the Avenel-Colonia Emergency Squad and Woodbridge Emergency Squad and local ambulances hauled victims to the hospital.
The cause of the fire, which caused damage estimated at $500,000, was not immediately determined and is being investigated. At least eight of the 500barrel tanks containing various types of volatile liquids exploded. The first explosion occurred about 2:00 P.M. and was followed by a flash fire which raced to adjoining stills and blending and storage tanks until it engulfed the entire sprawling plant. Four tank cars and a truck were badly burned. The fire was under control by 6:00 P.M. and out at 9:00 P.M.
The plant was the scene of a previous fire. A year ago, also, two Philadelphians in a small plane crashed against an oil tank at the same plant and were killed.
