A Forgotten Christmas Time Refinery Fire near Heidelberg Pa.? where 2 fireman died en route to the fire

You often here about fires and Explosions around the Tri-state area in the early 1900s as the area was expanding but even being a Volunteer Firefighter  interested in history of fire service in the area not even I knew of a horrible tragedy caused on  a dark Foggy night on December 25th 1928  exactly 90 Years to the day  a Fire would break at at  the Carnegie Refining Company on its 20 acre site in Heidelberg Pa .
An all hands call was put out and firefighters from surrounding community's responded including
Stowe Twp. VFD all the way from over near Mckeesrocks with 10 firefighters on a Truck in the days before firefighter safety when you hung on for dear life there where no enclosed cabs and seat belts.
Trucks where much smaller back then and was probably overloaded.
As members of Stowe Twp. VFD Hose Company number 2# and Hose Company #4    riding on a 1924 American Lafrance Pumper when it missed a curve on Wind Gap Road  and plunged over a hill side.




http://www.gendisasters.com/pennsylvania/11062/heidelberg-pa-refining-company-fire-dec-1928

instantly killing 2 Firefighters Adolph Sonnet 30 and Joseph DePetro 45  and a 3rd  Carl Moyer who succumbed to his wounds days later as well as 8 firefighters severely hurt.
All back in a day without modern trauma centers and 24 hr full time staffed emergency rooms .
A miracle in it self any survived .


But this was not first fire on this site the Etna chemical company  was once on this site and suffered a catastrophic explosion during WWI 

I can find no mention of this explosion under the Etna name  but there was a catastrophic explosion killed 200 at Aetna Chemical Company  Oakdale which is  near Heidelberg in 1917 and again in 1918



Seems Oakdale and Heidelberg name where interchanged in various articles of the day.


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