July 10, 1973 - Deadly fumes drop 8 fireman at Luidol Plant
As published in the Tonawanda News:
Deadly fumes drop 8 fireman at Lucidol Plant
by Tom Ernst
NEWS Staff Writer
Lucidol officials are still uncertain today as to exactly what caused some 150-200 pounds of organic peroxide to begin to decompose and emit choking fumes that felled eight Town of Tonawanda fire fighters yesterday afternoon.
One fireman was still in Kenmore Mercy Hospital today. The other seven were released after treatment yesterday.
Listed as "fair" condition was Joseph Spath, 29, of 196 Oakridge Ave., a Sheridan Park Fire Co. volunteer.
All eight were stricken when the "inhaled a toxic substance" hospital officials reported.
Some 100 fireman from throughout the town responded when the alarm was turned in about 12:45 p.m. from the Lucidol Division plant at 1740 Military Road, near Sheridan Drive.
A chemical reaction, possible caused when a faulty cooling unit allowed the compounds temperature to rise, causing billowing smoke to rise from a 40-by-60-foot sheet metal building located toward the rear of the complex.
At least three of the 25-pound drums burst while fireman and Lucidol employees were attempting to cool the substance by spraying it with water.
Chief Leon Boisvert of the Sheridan Park Fire Company said three fire fighters were in the path of the bursting drums and were showered with the powdery chemical.
Most of the fireman were equipped with air tanks and breathing masks. Chief Boisvert said the mask and helmet of the one fireman were blown off when the cartons burst.
Lucidol president Richard A Schwab emphasized that here was no explosion or fire, as early reports had indicated. He said the only damage resulting was the loss of the chemical which he said carried a selling price of between $400 and $500.
Normal operations have resumed at the plant, Mr. Schwab said, and the suspect cooling unit is in operation today. The unit maintains about a 50-degree temperature in the building, he said.
Another possible theory as to what caused the chemical to decompose was that it might have been a "bad batch," one spokesman said. However, company officials emphasized that no final explanation has yet been arrived at and the matter is still under investigation.
The storage building is equipped with a sprinkler system but the temperatures inside the building were not sufficiently high to cause it to activate, Mr. Schwab said. He estimated that it would take temperatures of around 110 or 120 degrees to activate the system.
Besides squirting water on the smoldering chemical fireman and Lucidol employees hastened to carry the drums outside where they were placed in crates and packed with dry ice.
Although both fireman and Lucidol employees were involved in the effort, no Lucidol employees were stricken. Mr. Schwab said "our employees know enough not to get downwind of the stuff."
Chief Boisvert said yesterday's mid-80s temperatures and the fact that the inside of the storage building was "like a boiling oven" probably combined with the choking chemical fumes to fell the fireman.
The fireman released from Kenmore Mercy after treatment yesterday were Dennis Tedesco, 20, of 668 Niagara Falls Blvd. and Michael J Guggemos, 25, of 288 Lyndale Ave, both are Kenilworth volunteers; Jerme Hertle, 35, of 11 Dumas Place, Milton Robbins, 45, of 164 Dunlop Ave, Randall Rider, 22, of 108 Burns Court, William Reimondo, 43, of 53 Alcott Court, and Donald Park, 38, of 62 Alcott Court, all are Sheridan Park fireman.
Mr. Schwab said the plant manufactures organic peroxides for the use of making plastics. A spokesman at the scene described the peroxide as a "starter" material that when mixed with other chemicals initiates a chemical reaction use in the manufacturing proces.
Deadly fumes drop 8 fireman at Lucidol Plant
by Tom Ernst
NEWS Staff Writer
Lucidol officials are still uncertain today as to exactly what caused some 150-200 pounds of organic peroxide to begin to decompose and emit choking fumes that felled eight Town of Tonawanda fire fighters yesterday afternoon.
One fireman was still in Kenmore Mercy Hospital today. The other seven were released after treatment yesterday.
Listed as "fair" condition was Joseph Spath, 29, of 196 Oakridge Ave., a Sheridan Park Fire Co. volunteer.
All eight were stricken when the "inhaled a toxic substance" hospital officials reported.
Some 100 fireman from throughout the town responded when the alarm was turned in about 12:45 p.m. from the Lucidol Division plant at 1740 Military Road, near Sheridan Drive.
A chemical reaction, possible caused when a faulty cooling unit allowed the compounds temperature to rise, causing billowing smoke to rise from a 40-by-60-foot sheet metal building located toward the rear of the complex.
At least three of the 25-pound drums burst while fireman and Lucidol employees were attempting to cool the substance by spraying it with water.
Chief Leon Boisvert of the Sheridan Park Fire Company said three fire fighters were in the path of the bursting drums and were showered with the powdery chemical.
Most of the fireman were equipped with air tanks and breathing masks. Chief Boisvert said the mask and helmet of the one fireman were blown off when the cartons burst.
Lucidol president Richard A Schwab emphasized that here was no explosion or fire, as early reports had indicated. He said the only damage resulting was the loss of the chemical which he said carried a selling price of between $400 and $500.
Normal operations have resumed at the plant, Mr. Schwab said, and the suspect cooling unit is in operation today. The unit maintains about a 50-degree temperature in the building, he said.
Another possible theory as to what caused the chemical to decompose was that it might have been a "bad batch," one spokesman said. However, company officials emphasized that no final explanation has yet been arrived at and the matter is still under investigation.
The storage building is equipped with a sprinkler system but the temperatures inside the building were not sufficiently high to cause it to activate, Mr. Schwab said. He estimated that it would take temperatures of around 110 or 120 degrees to activate the system.
Besides squirting water on the smoldering chemical fireman and Lucidol employees hastened to carry the drums outside where they were placed in crates and packed with dry ice.
Although both fireman and Lucidol employees were involved in the effort, no Lucidol employees were stricken. Mr. Schwab said "our employees know enough not to get downwind of the stuff."
Chief Boisvert said yesterday's mid-80s temperatures and the fact that the inside of the storage building was "like a boiling oven" probably combined with the choking chemical fumes to fell the fireman.
The fireman released from Kenmore Mercy after treatment yesterday were Dennis Tedesco, 20, of 668 Niagara Falls Blvd. and Michael J Guggemos, 25, of 288 Lyndale Ave, both are Kenilworth volunteers; Jerme Hertle, 35, of 11 Dumas Place, Milton Robbins, 45, of 164 Dunlop Ave, Randall Rider, 22, of 108 Burns Court, William Reimondo, 43, of 53 Alcott Court, and Donald Park, 38, of 62 Alcott Court, all are Sheridan Park fireman.
Mr. Schwab said the plant manufactures organic peroxides for the use of making plastics. A spokesman at the scene described the peroxide as a "starter" material that when mixed with other chemicals initiates a chemical reaction use in the manufacturing proces.
I lived on Balzack st a.bout 100 yds from the lucidol plant
ReplyDelete. I was 8 yrs old and attending Sheridan parkside elementary when the plant exploded. Windows blew out, desks and chairs split in half. It was total chaos. We were all ushered outside and saw a huge column of smoke coming from the direction of the factory. Some kids parents came and picked them up. My mom worked and my father was a volunteer Sheridan Parkside fireman and was called to help at the lucidol plant, so I walked home. I saw allot of damaged houses, but as close as ours was, it was unscathed. My dad later told a us he and several others were sent to explore the area around the plant to locate any bodies or body parts that might have been blown out of the plant by the explosion. He said they found some as far away as 1/4 of a mile at the railroad crossing on Ensminger Rd. I would be interested in hearing accounts from my classmates at the time.
Millsb2917@gmail dot com