FOUR FIREFIGHTERS KILLED IN DUST EXPLOSION DURING FOUR ALARM FIRE IN METAL PROCESSING PLANT – METALLURGICAL, INC. PLANT EXPLOSION – CLEVELAND, OHIO – AUGUST 4, 1966

Four Firefighters Killed in Dust Explosion During Four-Alarm Fire in Metal Processing Plant – Metallurgical, Inc. Plant Explosion – Cleveland, Ohio – August 4, 1966

On August 4, 1966, Cleveland Ohio Firemen Charles Doehner and John Petz of Rescue Squad 2, Fireman Ralph Simon of Engine 33, and Fireman Joseph Toolis of Ladder 12 were killed, and eight firefighters injured while battling a fire in a metal processing plant in the southwest portion of the city. Firefighters were called to the Metallurgical Inc. plant where magnesium and aluminum were processed to extinguish a blaze in a dust collector in one of the buildings. As several firefighters entered the building with hoselines to control a relatively small fire at the base of the processing hoppers, and several more were operating on a landing above the dust collection system, when an explosion occurred. Four men trapped on a landing at the top of the 50-foot-high structure were killed, and eight others were injured, some seriously. An investigation later revealed that the fire was started when sparks from a workman’s torch ignited metal dust that had accumulated in the duct. Plant employees then attempted to fight the fire, resulting in a 30-minute delay in notifying the fire department. The blast occurred about 45 minutes after the arrival of firefighters, when the burning aluminum powder came in contact with the air resulting in a combustible dust explosion. The loss of the four firefighters is among the worst tragedies in the history of the Cleveland Fire Department.

The structure involved in the incident was located in a large industrial complex at 9801 Walford Avenue at the southwest border of the city that was formerly occupied by the Industrial Rayon Corporation. The large 26.5-acre complex was occupied at the time of the incident by 14 industrial companies including Metallurgical Inc., a firm that processed magnesium and aluminum for use by the steel industry. The two-and-one-half-story brick and steel structure was 50 feet tall and contained metal processing equipment and a dust collection system. The building was used for milling operations in which magnesium and aluminum were ground into various sizes for steel-making purposes. The process produced considerable dust and a large dust collection system was installed in the building. The dust collector involved in the fire and explosion was 12 feet high and 15 feet long with a steel hopper. The building was not equipped with a fire alarm system or a fire suppression system. Fire hydrants supplied by a grid of eight-inch water mains looped the complex and additional private yard hydrants were also available within the complex.

Cleveland is a city in the state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in Northeast Ohio along the southern shore of Lake Erie, the 82.48 square mile city is situated across the U.S. maritime border with Canada and lies approximately 60 miles west of Pennsylvania and 115 miles east of Toledo. The largest city on Lake Erie and one of the major cities of the Great Lakes region, Cleveland ranks as the second-most populous city in Ohio with a 2020 U.S. census population of 372,624. Established as a settlement in 1796, the town grew steadily through the 1800s due to its proximity to Lake Erie and the St. Lawrence Seaway. The American Civil War vaulted Cleveland into the first rank of American manufacturing cities and fueled unprecedented growth. Its prime geographic location as a transportation hub on the Great Lakes played an important role in its development as an industrial and commercial center. The population of the booming manufacturing town peaked in 1950 when 914,808 residents were counted during the U.S. census. Since that time, the city has lost more than half its population.

The city is protected by the Cleveland Fire Department which traces its evolution from its first volunteer fire association in 1829. The ranks of Cleveland’s volunteer firemen were depleted during the American Civil War, with fully two-thirds serving in the armed forces. As a result, the city council authorized a paid fire department of 53 men in 1863. At the time of the Metallurgical, Inc. plant explosion in 1966, the 1,250-member department answered over 14,000 alarms per year. Today the department has 774 career members deployed from 26 fire stations staffing 23 engines, 8 trucks, 3 tower ladders, 2 technical rescues, 1 HazMat unit, 1 light and air unit, and 2 fireboats commanded by 1 assistant chief and 5 battalion chiefs. Cleveland EMS, a third-party emergency medical care and transport agency, operates out of several city fire stations.

Area weather conditions on the morning of the incident included an air temperature of 73 degrees F and a relative humidity of 49% with a light north wind at 5 mph under fair skies (Weather Underground). The weather conditions did not appear to be a significant factor in fire development or the outcome of the incident.

On the morning of Thursday, August 4, 1966, maintenance workers at the plant were dismantling a dust collector duct to make way for a new system. A small fire was touched off in metallic dust when an acetylene torch was used to cut apart the old ductwork. The workmen tried to extinguished the fire for about thirty minutes but it spread to wood framing nearby before they decided to call the Fire Department. One of the dozen men working in the building walked to a nearby building, also on the site of the former Industrial Rayon Corporation, to call the Fire Department.

Cincinnati fire units were alerted about noontime and Rescue Squad 2, Engine 33, and Ladder 12 under the command of Battalion Chief Edward Tuhacek soon arrived at the scene. Firemen stretched hoselines into the building as the workers were evacuated. The fire was thought to be small and the crews were making good progress on extinguishing it.

Four members including Firemen Charles Doehner and John Petz of Rescue Squad 2, Fireman Ralph Simon of Engine 33, and Fireman Joseph Toolis of Ladder 12 were operating on a landing high above the plant floor while eight other firemen were playing their hoselines at the base of the hopper system trying to cool the powdered metal as it was being released slowly into containers.

Firefighters were on the scene for about 45 minutes when suddenly an explosion rocked the interior of the structure. The four members who were standing on the landing above the dust collector were killed instantly in the blast and eight firefighters working on the main floor were injured. One fireman said he saw a cloud of black smoke come up from under the hopper. “It began as dark as night and I started backing away when someone yelled not to breathe in the dust,” he said, “Then wham!”

The explosion tore gaping holes in the roof of the building with several other explosions following. The dead and injured were carried from the building by firemen who had to fight their way through intense heat. Some of the rescuers were treated at the scene for heat exhaustion and returned to work. Two of the eight injured firemen, Fred Carque and William Blynn of Engine 38, continued to work for almost three hours after the blast until pain forced them to be taken to St. Vincent Charity Hospital for treatment. Some of the hurt men who escaped injury from the explosions received their injuries when they rushed up to carry off the dead and injured firemen. None of the plant workers were injured during the incident.

Lieutenant William Ruddy, in command of the decimated Rescue Squad 2, was blown out of his boots and injured by the blast. After he was helped from the building, he had to be restrained by other firemen from re-entering the burning building. He said he wanted to help his men.

Battalion Chief Tuhacek said his men were inside the plant for about 45 minutes before the blast. “The fire, we thought, was pretty well out, and four of the men were up on a landing above the hoppers,” he explained while awaiting an ambulance to take him to St. John Hospital for treatment. “Suddenly there was a flash, an explosion and everything ignited,” he said. Chief Tuhacek, although burned, stayed on the scene until all the firemen were out of the building before he would allow others to take him to the hospital. “My responsible was to my men,” he said. “My injuries were not bad. I wanted to see that everyone was out of the building and safe.”

Fireman James Telzrow, who was injured in the blast, recalled the explosion: “I was at the base of the dust collector helping clean up,” said Telzrow. “The men from Rescue Squad 2 were on the landing above the roof of the office emptying the bin. They were the ones killed. I guess I was lucky.”

Fireman James Ruddy of Snorkel 2 was on the scene of the fire when the blast occurred. “Our company was just getting to the fire and starting to set up when the first explosion took place,” James Ruddy said. “We started to run into the building to do what we could, and I saw them carrying out Bill (his brother, Lieutenant William Ruddy). Normally the task of treating the injured falls to the Rescue Squad personnel. However, two members of Rescue Squad 2 were killed in the blast and one member was seriously injured so other firemen were tasked with caring for the injured and removing the dead. James Rudy jumped into the Rescue Squad emergency vehicle and helped carry his injured brother into the emergency room.

The preliminary report from the coroner indicated that the men were killed by the intense heat of the fire and explosion.

Investigators later determined that aluminum dust from the metal grinding operation was apparently ignited by the small fire caused by the cutting torch in the rectangular dust collector, 12 feet high and 15 feet long. Powdered aluminum, when mixed with air, forms a highly explosive mixture with a low ignition point.

Members of the Cleveland Fire Department killed in the line of duty at Metallurgical Inc. plant fire and explosion on August 4, 1966:

• Fireman Ralph E. Simon, age 52, was a 23-year member of the Cleveland Fire Department assigned to Engine 33. He was survived by two adult children, Douglas Simon and Sandra Goldwater. His funeral service was held at the Schuster Funeral Home with interment following at Crown Hill Cemetery in Twinsburg, Summit County, Ohio.
• Fireman Joseph G. Toolis, age 43, was a 16-year member of the Cleveland Fire Department assigned to Ladder 2. Toolis worked on his days off with a local landscaping company. He was survived by his wife and five children, John, age 8, Joseph, age 5, Kathy, age 4, Robert, age 2, and his 6-day old son, Thomas. His brother Jack was also a member of the Fire Department. His funeral service was held at St. Bernadette Church with interment following at Holy Cross Cemetery in Brook Park, Cuyahoga County, Ohio.
• Fireman John A. Petz, age 42, was a 16-year member of the Cleveland Fire Department assigned to Rescue Squad 2. He was survived by his wife, Betty and five children, John, James, Janette, Jay, and Jillian. His funeral service was held at Our Lady of Angels Church with interment following at Holy Cross Cemetery in Brook Park, Cuyahoga County, Ohio.
• Fireman Charles G. Doehner, age 38, a 15-year member of the Cleveland Fire Department assigned to Rescue Squad 2. Doehner enjoyed taking his young sons down to a railroad crossing near their home to watch the trains for hours. He was survived by his wife and his two sons, Eric, age 5, and Jeffrey, age 3. His father was a retired fireman. His funeral service was held at St. Patrick’s Church with interment following at Holy Cross Cemetery in Brook Park, Cuyahoga County, Ohio.

The four fallen firefighters left behind a dozen young children.

On August 8, after funeral services at their home churches, the slow-moving funeral processions of the four firemen in which a gleaming white fire pumper proceeded each hearse, caused people on the street to stop and watch in reverence. The processions were driven past Fire Station 33 where all four of the men were stationed before heading to the individual cemeteries for interment. The apparatus of Engine 33, Ladder 12, and Rescue Squad 2 were staged outside the fire station draped in black bunting.

The names of the four fallen firefighters have been inscribed on the Cleveland Firefighters Memorial located on Erieside Avenue in downtown Cleveland. The sculpture depicts two firefighters standing bravely in the face of a roaring inferno. The memorial is a colorful fiberglass piece visible from the shore way, in a central location between Brown’s Stadium, the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame, and the Science Center. The imposing tendrils of fire curl over and above the seemingly hapless men, but they stand firm, blasting water from the hose, against all odds. Engraved on the large granite base are the names of all the men and women who have paid the ultimate price protecting the Cleveland communities.

The site of the fatal explosion is now a multiple tenant mixed-use manufacturing and commercial building. There is no memorial marker at the site.

The tragedy was the second fire and explosion in less than three years to kill four city firemen. On August 13, 1963, four Cleveland firefighters were killed and three hurt when a propane truck exploded while they battled a fire in the Avis-Rent-A-Truck garage at 1204 Carnegie Avenue S.E.: https://www.facebook.com/groups/192218352449074/permalink/1297450685259163/

Commentary:

Building construction size-up elements include the type and quantity of materials that may be utilized in an occupancy. A high hazard manufacturing plant such as the metal processing plant involved in this incident should be expected to maintain a quantity of hazardous materials and substances on the premises that can cause a fire or explosion. Periodic building familiarization tours of such high hazard occupancies should be conducted on a regular basis so that fire authorities are aware of the presence of such materials.

The accumulation of dust and particles in manufacturing processes has plagued industry for decades. A wide variety of materials that can be explosive in dust form exist in many industries. Examples of these materials include food (e.g., candy, sugar, spice, starch, flour, feed, and grain), tobacco, plastics, wood, paper, pulp, rubber, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, dyes, coal, and metals (e.g., aluminum, chromium, iron, magnesium, and zinc). These materials are used in a wide range of industries and processes, such as agriculture, chemical manufacturing, pharmaceutical production, furniture, textiles, fossil fuel power generation, recycling operations, and metal working and processing which includes additive manufacturing and 3D printing. Powdered metals such as aluminum, magnesium, and titanium can form explosive suspensions in air, if finely divided. This volatile mixture only needs to find an ignition source to wreak havoc on the facility. Modern manufacturing processes require that dust collection systems be utilized to avoid accumulations of dust in manufacturing plants. Even then, a fine layer of dust may build up over years in a manufacturing plant that machines metal parts and other products. Proper housekeeping measures and maintenance of the dust collection systems will minimize the hazard in most facilities. Many manufacturing facilities are also equipped with explosion proof containment hoods and blast resistant construction so that if a dust explosion occurs, it is minimized to the area of origin and does not cause structural damage or residual fire.

This incident should serve as a reminder that a recent incident that involving a dust explosion at a lumber mill in Searsmont, Maine on May 15, 2026, killed two firefighters, one plant employee and seriously injured 10 others: https://www.foxnews.com/us/maine-governor-urges-residents-stay-clear-fiery-lumber-mill-explosion-searsmont?msockid=3b078189a72460301a1196bda64661bd

We have attached photos from the Cleveland incident and a detail from the 1953 Sanborn fire insurance map showing the configuration of the large industrial complex involved in the incident.

We have also included the link to an OSHA document: Firefighting Precautions at Facilities with Combustible Dust shared by group member Grit Cibbaro: https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/publications/OSHA_3644.pdf

Thanks to multiple media sources for the content of this article.

Honor the service of Cleveland Firemen Ralph E. Simon, John A. Petz, Joseph G. Toolis, and Charles G. Doehner by reviewing the properties of combustible metals, reviewing your departments procedures for extinguishing combustible metal fires and preventing dust explosions, and touring any local industries or manufacturing occupancies that produce, process or store amounts of combustible metals in your local response district.

Remember Fallen Brothers.

Get Out There And Know Your Local!!!