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Memories Of Emmons

Explosion Still Strong

By LIBBY CUDMORE • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com

ONEONTA – Retired Oneonta Fire Chief Norm Jacobson described the Colliersville train derailment as “like five nuclear bombs going off.”

Last week’s garage fire in Middlefield, which sent five firefighters to the hospital, drew comparisons to the derailment on Feb. 12, 1974, near what is now the I-88 overpass.

“I was on duty that day, and a number of departments responded,” he said. “Seven cars, each carrying 33,000 gallons of propane, overturned.”

Propane was leaking from the tankers, and one of them exploded in what Jacobson called a BLEVE – Boiling Liquid Evaporated Vapor Explosion.

“For every gallon of liquid propane, it releases 270 gallons of vapor,” he said. “It was like a minor nuclear blast. The mushroom cloud was higher than the mountains around it; people heard the blast in Davenport.”

Four other tank cars soon exploded. No one died, but more than 50 firefighters were sent to the hospital with burns.

One man had his arm amputated and Roy Althiser, a volunteer fire fighter from Worcester, had to have his leg amputated.

“Five or six of them were in the burn unit at Albany Medical Center for six months,” he said. “It was catastrophic.”

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  1. Hi , At the time of this accident I was 17 and I just happened to be in the area. I was actually hitchhiking from Oneonta to Goodyear lake and had my ride drop me off so I could check it out. As I walked down towards the Train derailment from route 7 the fire trucks where all pulling in real close to the burning train. I could here the calling on a load speaker for more help. A group of onlookers had gathered on a knoll overlooking the burning propane car. There was a lot of snow on the ground, maybe about of foot of snow. I saw a small four wheel drive fire truck approach the people on the knoll and yelling at the to get back! Which they did. I was still maybe 150 yards away When the first Tank car exploded! The fire was filling the air and roiling down towards me so I dove to the ground. I looked up and the inferno stopped just above the ground and retracted as quickly as it advanced! It melted my jacket but I was not harmed . I think I was in a daze after that but slowly started to make my way back to route 7. If I had been either closer or farther away from it I would have been burned terribly. The fire had come all the way to the ground all around me. As I was walking away I could here the firemen on the radio load speaker called for more help . Another blast occurred after I got far enough away so I was uninsured. It is a day I will never forget

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