KINGMAN, Ariz. – July 5th will mark the 53rd anniversary of the Kingman propane tanker explosion which killed 11 firefighters and one civilian and injured more than 100 others. The blast is also commonly referred to as a BLEVE (Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion) or the Doxol explosion. It was the deadliest fire disaster in Arizona and the nation’s history until the 9/11 terror attack in 2001.
Today it remains the second deadliest disaster in Arizona. In 2013 the Yarnell Hill fire became the deadliest fire disaster claiming the lives of 19 firemen from the elite 20-member Granite Mountain Interagency Hotshots.
The 13th anniversary commemoration to honor the 19 Yarnell firefighters was held on June 30 at the Yarnell Hill Fire Memorial in Yarnell, AZ. No formal Kingman BLEVE remembrance ceremonies have been announced. Those are usually held every 10 years. However, the Kingman Fire Department, every year, announces the names of the 11 firefighters on their emergency frequency in a somber salute. There are other private ceremonies as well.
In Kingman, the firefighters were within seconds of connecting an extra 200 feet of firehose to a hydrant located 1200 feet away from the blast site in order to charge the deluge gun (an un-manned, stationary device that sprays large volumes of water) enabling them to retreat. Time was not on their side.
The burning tanker, filled with more than 30,000 gallons of LPG (Liquified Propane Gas) violently exploded. The initial fireball reached roughly 200 feet across before billowing into a mushroom cloud nearly 1,000 feet in diameter and rising up several hundred feet, resembling a nuclear blast.
Three firefighters were killed at the scene and seven others (including the manager of the Doxol Gas Company) died within weeks. More than 100 people, including first responders, were treated at the county hospital or air evacuated to other facilities in Nevada and Phoenix.
This tragic event resulted in a national case study in hazardous material response, reshaped firefighting practices and resulted in national safety reforms. It was a day that changed Kingman forever.
