Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Last blogged @ 9:33 AM

Molasses Disaster .

Molasses disaster? Can molasses kill people?

Yes, a molasses tank in Boston exploded with great force and flooded the streets with a huge wave of molasses. It killed 21 people, crumpled the steel support of an elevated train, and knocked over a fire station.

 

The Violence of the Explosion

Fermentation, a sudden rise in temperature, and an inadequate tank caused the tank containing two million gallons of molasses to explode. The force of the explosion was so great that:

• Half-inch steel plates of the huge molasses tank were torn apart. ("Seeking Cause of Explosion," The Salem Evening News, January 16, 1919: 7.)
• The plates were propelled in all directions, hard enough to cut the girders of the elevated railway. (Ibid.)
• After the explosion, a tremendous vacuum sucked into ruin buildings which had withstood the primary blast. (Ibid.)
• The vacuum also picked up a truck and dragged it across the street toward the molasses tank. ("Big Molasses Tank Blast Kills Eleven," The Boston Globe, January 16, 1919: 8.)
• An elevated train was lifted off the rails and fell onto the ties. (Ibid.)
• Some buildings collapsed.
• Some buildings were knocked off their foundations.
• Some buildings were buried under the flood of molasses.