7/3/2009 6:00:00 AM 'We're not going to let this destroy our community' Outdoors expert and Miner contributor Don Martin shares memories of a day 36 years ago he will never forget
Courtesy Mohave Museum of History and Arts
The scene of a tanker on fire in Kingman before it exploded on July 5, 1973, killing 12 people including 11 firefighters.
File
One of the victims of the July 5, 1973, explosion lies on a road near the blast site.
Don Martin was on the Kingman Police force for just over a year when he was called to the scene of a burning propane tank at the Doxol Propane Plant July 5, 1973.
He remembers standing with a group of firefighters as they squirted water on the fire before Martin was sent to direct traffic around the scene.
Ten minutes later, those firefighters were dead.
The boiling liquid-expanding vapor explosion (BLEVE) remains one of the biggest tragedies in the history of Kingman. The city lost 11 firefighters and one civilian that day, while dozens of others were left with a lifetime of physical and emotional scars.
No one realized the danger that day until it was too late, Martin said. The top of the burning tanker was so hot, it was cherry red and Martin said he could hear the tank groaning and hissing.
Still, everything appeared under control. Martin was diverting traffic off of Route 66 onto Fairgrounds Avenue when an Arizona Highway patrolman raced to his car and warned him the tank could blow at any second. They were about a half-mile away from the fire, Martin said.
"I had turned my back to the tank car, and just as I turned around, it blew," Martin said.
The tanker exploded about 20 minutes after the initial call for help.
The rupture in the tank had decreased the pressure inside the container, causing the liquid inside to boil and rapidly create a large amount of vapor. It was the wave of overpressure created by the vapor that caused the explosion.
War zone
The initial concussion of the explosion knocked Martin off his feet. A blast of super heated air followed. The air was so hot that it liquefied the oil in the asphalt. When Martin pushed himself off the ground, his badge left an impression in the road.
He returned to the scene of the explosion to find a "war zone." Most of the city's first-responders were injured in the blast, including a number of police officers.
So many were injured that Martin and Officer Ben Lamb were the only ones left who weren't injured. They were treating victims and evacuating people away from the fire when they were approached by Officer Steve Radford.
"Don, we have to help people," Martin remembers him saying. Radford was in shock and didn't notice his shirt was burned off his back. His uniform continued to smolder in Martin's squad car as he drove him to the hospital. It stuck to the seat, along with some of Radford's skin, when he got out.
Martin returned to treat more victims. By this time a wall of fire was being pushed by prevailing winds and began threatening bystanders and homes. Martin saw two small girls standing in a field with the fire moving fast in their direction. The pilot of a slurry bomber in the area in case of wildfires spotted them, too. The bomber dropped the red slurry in between the girls and the fire and they scurried away.
The slurry landed on top of Martin's car, denting in the roof, damaging the emergency lights and leaving the entire exterior covered in pink liquid. Martin temporarily forgot the gravity of the situation.
"I thought, 'I'm really going to get in trouble for messing this car up,'" he said.
The pilot made the right call, though.
"I was still quite a distance from the kids," Martin said. "I don't know if I would have gotten there in time."
Community in mourning
First-responders Frank Henry, John Campbell, Donald Webb, Roger Hubka, Christopher Sanders, Joseph Chambers III, William Casson, M.B. (Jimmy) Cox, Richard Lee Williams, Alan Hansen, Art Stringer and Doxol Gas Co. employee Marvin Mast were killed.
It would be months before any sense of normalcy returned. The weeks after the explosion were filled with hospital visits and funerals. Martin went to the hospital to visit Alan Hansen, a 34-year-old volunteer firefighter and veteran patrolman with the Arizona Department of Public Safety. "I'm going to make it," Hansen told Martin. He died 14 days after the explosion.
"We're a community today because of the fortitude of the people back then who pulled together and said, 'We're not going to let this destroy our community, even if it destroyed our buildings and took some of our own,'" Martin said.
Martin returned to the police force for another 15 years before he retired. His partner that day, Officer Lamb, is also retired and lives in Golden Valley. Radford, the officer Martin transported in his car, returned to work with the department for a few years before moving to the East Coast. He was killed in the early 1980s in a car accident in the line of duty.
The memories of that day will live with Martin forever. He still gets emotional talking about what he saw. But Martin said he is able to take comfort in seeing the families of the firefighters who were killed. Many of them, you see, have grown up to become firefighters themselves.
A memorial service to honor those killed will be held at 9 a.m. Sunday at Firefighter Park.
Reader Comments
Posted: Thursday, July 09, 2009
Article comment by:
Wendy Young-Kirn
I will remember this day for the rest of my life. My brother Greg Young and his best friend Alan Hansen were AZ Highway Patrol Officers at the time. Both were at the office right across the street. Alan ran out the door to help the victims and was caught in the second blast. He later died. My brother was devestated by his loss and was never the same. He ended up taking his own life in 2006. My other brother Gary was a volunteer firefighter with Hualapai Valley Fire Dept. Alot of great men were lost or forever changed by the events of that day.
Posted: Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Article comment by:
Jeep Doherty
I was a city police officer for only 5 days when this happened. I had been on graveyard shift the night before and had just come down from Hualapi Mt. Park where we had been with family. I had just gotten home when Dispatcher Lee Birch called me and said there had been a disaster and to report to the police department. All our police vehicles were being used or out of commission, so I had to use my personal car
I didn't get home for 2 days. I have been retired since 1993 and I still remember this day and the awful tragedy. My prayers go out to the families still of the brave ones that died that day.
Posted: Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Article comment by:
friends4ever
I didn't live here then. I was in the hospital in California after my daughter's birth on July 4th.
We moved to Oatman in 1987, and my next door neighbor told me all about it. She was in Kingman hospital having her baby and all hell broke loose.
She is no longer alive to tell the story, but my daughter, Wendy, and Anne's daughter Heidi are still very good friends.
Thanks for the memories,
Denise
Posted: Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Article comment by:
Leah Marshall
I remember this day every July 5th. I remember the force of the explosion and how it blew some of the insulation right out of the new addition to the house my dad was building. We lived fairly close...Miami and Arthur. I also remember how our community raced to unite in getting ice to the hospital for the burn victims. My parents went to school with most of these men and I went to school with their kids. Thank you Don, for remembering all who suffered that day.
Posted: Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
Only a heart less person would post a picture like that. And for the person who said it was nothing how dare you. Some of those men who were lost that day their sons took their place as firemen. And one day their sons will be helping you so thank them when they do!!!!!
Posted: Monday, July 06, 2009
Article comment by:
Mindy Cobb
I to remember that day very well. I was washing my mothers car when it exploded. The biggest expolsion I've ever seen. I had just graduated from high school and was going to be going to college in Mesa.
I was going to move sooner to help Karen Webb as she would need some help with the children while her husband Donnie Webb would be recovering. He never made it. We lost alot of good people that day and our lives were forever changed.
Posted: Monday, July 06, 2009
Article comment by:
Paul A. Reed
I worked for Doxol in '76-'77. Since I didn't live in Kingman when the tragedy occurred, I can only imagine the difficulty of seeing that delivery truck or one of the employees in a uniform shirt. I regret not being very conscious of it at the time. Lots of years have passed; I am grateful that there have been recent attempts to remember and memorialize those who died and were injured that day. I pray comfort for those whose lives were so radically altered that terrible day.
Posted: Sunday, July 05, 2009
Article comment by:
Painful memory
The pain and horror of that day will always be with those of us who lived in Kingman at that time..we grew up with the families of most of the men who passed that day- and , their pain is still ours, too.
Please - don't publish anymore photos of the victims- it is just too painful for the survivors. And to the idiot who said the grainy black and white photo is nothing: shame on your heartlessness...it could be you, someday.
Posted: Saturday, July 04, 2009
Article comment by:
Donni Rincon
I remember that day so well I just recently graduated from KHS and few days before my 18th birthday. I was working for the rec. department at Manazana elem. school with young kids that fateful days. Several of my friends lost their fathers that day. Going through this helped me go through another terrible blast in 1988 when Pepcon Chemical plant blew in Henderson, Nv. Which blew the door & windows out of my house. The devastation, trauma and unknowing if your love ones where ok. Those men who died that day were heroes who were doing their jobs to save the people and community around them. I will never forget what they did or their sacrifice and bless their families.
Posted: Saturday, July 04, 2009
Article comment by:
C E
I also remember that day and will for the rest of my life. I was a Sgt. with MCSO and on vacation. My wife and I stopped at the gas station just off Andy Devine when it happened. Needles to say, I was in shock seeing all of those who lost their lives, ones I had known for years. Gone, but never forgotten.
Posted: Saturday, July 04, 2009
Article comment by:
Rob Allenq
I was working at Charlie McCarthy Ford downtown. Lee Daniels and I were under a truck when it blew. My brother in law David Simmons worked at the truck stop there and he wasn't hurt too bad. I knew most of the people there , yes don and ben Lamb too. The way everyone helped was great to see. Our small town was hurt but we stayed together. Thank you
Posted: Saturday, July 04, 2009
Article comment by:
Just me
With all the horrible things we've seen on the news through the years IN FULL COLOR, a grainy little 3x3 black and white image of somebody on the ground is nothing.
Posted: Saturday, July 04, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
I remember Joe Farner was one of those heroic men who passed during that horrific fire. I believe he was also the owner of that liquid propane distributor.
Posted: Saturday, July 04, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
I remember that day like it was yesterday. It still makes me cry when I remember. I didn't know all of the great men who died from the accident, but I knew several very well. Such a great loss to the community. Thank you Don, for keeping the community aware of the men, women and families who suffered from the results of that terrible day. My God bless you all.
i remember that tanker when it blew i was 7 years old and i was on my bike all the way over on van marter ct. and fairgrounds and was knocked off my bike when that tanker blew!!
Posted: Friday, July 03, 2009
Article comment by:
tom henry
CANNOT BELIVE YOU WOULD SHOW A PICTURE OF ONE OF THE VICTIMS LIES ON THE ROAD. JUST NOT GOOD CHOICE WITH ALL THE OTHER PICS AVAILABLE AND HOW MANY FAMILIES THIS INVOLVED.
Posted: Friday, July 03, 2009
Article comment by:
tm
This was a tragedy that will be with many for a very long time. Bless all of those whom were involved and bless you for god did not call you home that day.
Posted: Friday, July 03, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
Thanks Don!!! I too will never forget that day. My mom and Lynn Lamb worked side by side at the hospital taking care of the burn victims, while we all went house to house getting ice.It will remain with me always!!
