A huge cylindrical gasometer – the largest in the world at that time –
located in the heart of the industrial centre of Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, developed a leak. On the morning of November 14, 1927,
repairmen set out to look for it – with an open-flame blowlamp. At about
10 o’clock they apparently found the leak. The tank, containing 5
million cu. ft of natural gas, rose in the air like a balloon and
exploded. Chunks of metal, some weighing more than 100 lbs, were
scattered great distances, and the combined effects of air pressure and
fire left a square mile of devastation. Twenty-eight people were killed
and hundreds were injured.
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