Thirty-Three Firefighters Burned During Gasoline Storage Tank Fire – Pure Oil Company Fire – Atlantic City, New Jersey – July 16, 1937
On July 16, 1937, 40,000 gallons of gasoline exploded at the Pure Oil Company fuel storage plant in Atlantic City, New Jersey sending flaming liquid flowing through the streets and injuring 33 firemen and dozens of civilians. Firefighters were dispatched to a fire in the fuel storage depot and arrived to find several large gasoline storage tanks exposed to fire. The fire started from an undetermined cause and the first explosion spread flames in all directions. A general alarm was sounded that brought all 30 pieces of the Atlantic City Fire Department and 130 men to the scene. As firefighters were battling the flames a large crowd of spectators formed to watch the fire. Several other gasoline tanks then exploded sending flaming gasoline in all directions. More than 200 people including 33 firemen were burned or injured in the series of explosions.
The Pure Oil Company fuel storage plant occupied the southeast corner of Virginia and Drexel Avenues in the Inlet section of the city. The plant consisted of a one-story Type III Ordinary construction commercial building and several 10,000-gallon steel oil and gasoline storage tanks. The tanks were situated close to the corner of the two roadways. On Side Alpha across Drexel Avenue to the north were several wood frame greenhouses. On the northwest corner of Virginia and Drexel Avenues was a small two-story brick commercial bakery with several wood frame dwellings adjacent. On Side Bravo to the east was the large coal yard of the A. & P. Coal Company. On Side Charlie to the south were several wood frame sheds and a railroad siding serving the fuel plant and the adjacent coal yard. On Side Delta was a vacant lot directly across Virginia Avenue and to the southwest stood the one-story printing plant of The Press-Union Daily and Evening newspapers. The fuel plant was not equipped with a fire suppression system. Fire hydrants fed by a six-inch water main were available in front of the storage tanks at Virginia and Drexel Avenues and at the corner of Mediterranean and Virginia Avenues. The nearest fire alarm call box was located one block south at Mediterranean and Virginia Avenues.
Atlantic City is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. According to the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a resident population of 38,497. Located 60 miles southeast of Philadelphia and 125 miles south of New York City, the city attracts more than 200 million visitors each year. The city is located on Absecon Island and borders Absecon, Brigantine, Pleasantville, Ventnor City, Egg Harbor Township, and the Atlantic Ocean. The city is protected by the Atlantic City Fire Department that provides fire protection, rescue, and first responder emergency medical services to the city. The 180 career members operate out of six fire stations located throughout the city and staff five engine companies, two truck companies, one rescue company, one HazMat unit, one USAR unit, one Light and Air unit, two fireboats, one battalion chief and one deputy chief/tour commander. The department responded to 7,685 calls for service in 2023.
On the afternoon of Friday, July 16, 1937, the oceanside resort town of Atlantic City was packed with vacationers enjoying a long summer weekend. Many had come to the seaside city to escape the sweltering heat and humidity in Philadelphia and New York City. At about 1:00 p.m., Atlantic City fire units responded to a report of a fire at the Pure Oil Company’s fuel storage plant at Virginia and Drexel Avenues. Arriving firemen found a fire involving an aboveground 10,000-gallon gasoline storage tank. The fire was also exposing several other fuel storage tanks in the plant.
Firemen were setting up hoselines to attack the blaze as an estimated crowd of 10,000 onlookers gathered. Police had not yet been able to block off the area. As the crowd watch the firemen try to check the flames, three 10,000-gallon gasoline tanks ruptured in a series of explosions that showered firemen and spectators with blazing gasoline. Many were thrown from their feet by the explosions as the tanks burst. Gutters flowed with burning gasoline forming walls of fire a block long and menacing nearby homes.
As burning fuel entered the streets, the public works director assembled 300 men and 52 trucks to dam up the running gasoline with sand brought from the beach by WPA workers. Burning gasoline entered the sewer system and explosions blew manhole covers 20 feet in the air. The Pure Oil plant was located in the Inlet section of Atlantic City and a stiff breeze carried gasoline fumes, smoke and burning embers to all parts of the city.
The fire started from an undetermined cause shortly after 1 p.m., and the first explosion spread flames in all directions. Fire Chief Joseph Leeds immediately sounded a general alarm that brought all 30 pieces of the Atlantic City Fire Department and 130 men to the scene. A similar number of police responded to the call and threw a cordon around the danger area. Meanwhile, fire departments from Pleasantville, Absecon, Northfield, Margate, Ventnor, Hammonton and Ocean City hurried to the resort to be on hand if needed. This cooperative system had been adopted several years earlier.
The first blast brought two ambulances to the scene and ten firemen were rushed to the Atlantic City Hospital. An emergency aid station was set up in the Municipal Hospital at Maryland Avenue, a block from the blazing plant. Between 75 and 100 of those only slightly burned were treated there during the afternoon.
Despite the warnings of police, the crowd pressed forward to watch the fire and later explosions covered them with blazing gasoline. Within a 10-minute period six other explosions occurred blasting 10,000- and 5,000-gallon gasoline storage tanks. Fire Chief Leeds indicated there were 40 hoselines playing water on the fire at the height of the blaze. With the rush of a tidal wave the flames that followed the big explosion mowed down men like tenpins, some appeared too petrified to move.
By that time, thousands of resort visitors and additional thousands of residents were at the scene. Police had difficulty keeping the fire lines intact. Shortly before 4 p.m. after at least 33 firemen were put out of action by burns and injuries, Fire Chief Joseph Leeds announced no further attempt would be made to save the Pure Oil plant. He directed his remaining men to concentrate on surrounding buildings that were threatened by the blasts and resulting fires.
The two ambulances and private automobiles ran between the fire scene and the Atlantic City Hospital shuttling injured patients throughout the afternoon. A total of 115 men, women, and children were treated at the hospital. Miss Nellie McGurran, superintendent of both hospitals, and Dr. David B. Allman, local surgeon, was in charge of the work. Twenty-five physicians and forty nurses assisted in the emergency.
When the last 10,000-gallon tank exploded, the top turned over and over in the air as many persons were burned. They fled in panic. This hysteria spread to those on the outside of the crowd, and they joined the frantic scramble to put distance between themselves and the ascending tank, red and roaring with flame. Many were trampled in the rush, falling and picking themselves up like so many frightened children. Some of the spectators ran several blocks beyond the safety point. Motorists a half mile away, seeing the onrush of frenzied humanity, jumped out of their cars and looked for shelter, fearing the rolling flames would engulf them. Soon afterward there was a noticeable decline in the fury of the flames, but the crowd stayed well back after that. No further warnings were needed.
The plant stored a quantity of fuel in 55-gallon metal drums in the yard of the plant. Explosions of these rocked the air many times and added further danger to firemen close to the blaze. Firemen were handicapped battling the inferno because of the intense heat and used metal shields to protect themselves. Unable to check the flames due to the frequent explosions, the firemen were directed to concentrate their efforts on saving the buildings nearby. Only a small part of the coal yard of the A. and P. Coal Company was destroyed although it was next to the Pure Oil plant.
Fortunately, the plant, which was located in the northside district of the resort, was surrounded for the most part by vacant lots. The wind was blowing toward the ocean to the southeast and a greenhouse on the northwest of the plant was not damaged. The plant of The Press-Union newspapers, to the south of the oil company, was not damaged, but the heat became so intense that editorial workers were forced to move to the circulation department in the rear of the building.
About one-third of the city’s firemen, including every fire captain, were reported injured in the blaze. In addition, three firemen from Pleasantville and at least one from Hammonton, thirty miles away, were hurt. Later in the night five of the thirty-three sent to the hospital were released.
Fire Chief Leeds said, although the cause of the fire had not been determined, he suspected an underground tank might have been leaking, saturating the ground above with gasoline, and that a discarded cigarette might have ignited the fumes. No witness to the start of the blaze was found. The fire completely destroyed the plant, and it was never rebuilt. Mayor Charles White and Public Safety Director William Cuthbert said that no gasoline storage tanks of this type would be permitted within the city limits in the future.
The site of the fire and explosions is now occupied by Drexel Avenue Park, a small one-acre municipal park with brick walkways and a large pedestal clock.
Commentary:
Prior to the recognition that fuel storage depots with large aboveground tanks posed a hazard to the community, it was common to see elevated tanks in many cities and towns built directly adjacent to commercial and residential areas. After incidents such as this, many communities banned aboveground fuel storage tanks in populated areas and construction of new tanks were confined to isolated and fringe areas. New technology also allowed for the construction of large underground tanks which pose much less hazard to firefighters and civilians. However, the fuel industry is seeing an increase in aboveground fuel storage tank installation because of their cheaper cost of construction and maintenance costs.
During fire operations at hazardous materials incidents, the fire department is responsible for establishing and maintaining an exclusion zone around the perimeter of the incident to protect spectators and the press. While the police are usually recruited to set up these zones through the use of rope lines, barricades, and fire scene tape, the incident commander is ultimately responsible for ensuring that the exclusion zone is maintained. Establishing a good working relationship with local law enforcement prior to an incident will help to coordinate operations to ensure that exclusion zones are maintained during an incident.
We have attached photos from the incident and a detail from the 1949 Sanborn fire insurance map showing the vacant lot of the former fuel depot and the surrounding exposures. We have also attached a link to an old newsreel video on the fire showing one of the explosions: https://youtu.be/85K_pRf912M
Thanks to multiple media sources for the content of this article.
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Screen capture from a newsreel of the incident as the first of several explosions scatter firefighters and civilians.
Detail from the 1949 Sanborn map of the area showing the former location of the Pure Oil plant (circled in red). If you look closely, the image of the former Pure Oil plant that was located at the corner of Virgina and Drexel Avenues can be seen under the pasted revision layer of the map. Note the locations of the greenhouses, the coal yard, and the offices and printing press of a local newspaper that were exposed by the fire.
View of the destroyed plant and fuel tanks following the fire.
