KINGMAN — It was 52 years ago on July 5th that Kingman was forever changed. Those who were here know the extent of those changes and can tell you exactly where they were and what they were doing when the BLEVE (Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion) happened.
The terrain on highway 66 from roughly Fairgrounds Blvd. heading northeast to the I-40 overpass has changed dramatically in the past half century. Unknown to casual travelers, that path brings forth painful memories, profound grief and deep sadness for those who experienced the horrible event.
There are many people in Kingman (and around Mohave County) who were here and were directly affected by it. Many say Kingman changed dramatically that day and has never been the same since.
On that day, a 33,000-gallon tank car containing highly flammable LPG (liquified petroleum gas) had been sitting on a siderail of the Atcheson Topeka and Santa Fe Railway for one month. LPG in vapor form expands 270-1; it is shipped in liquid form in order to save space.
Doxol Gas Company manager, Marvin Mast, and his employee, Donald Formentini, were situated on top of the tanker preparing to transfer the gas to two storage tanks in the Doxol yard.
During the process, a fire erupted at the top of the tanker and then an explosion followed by a huge mushroom shaped fireball estimated to be 200 feet high and about 1,000 feet in diameter.
Mast and Formentini were blown off the tanker when the fire erupted. Both were transported to the local hospital and evacuated to hospitals in Phoenix and Henderson, NV respectively. Formentini survived the burns he sustained and Mast later died.
The blast also claimed the lives of 11 firefighters. The fallen firefighters: Bill Casson, Jimmy Cox and Roger Hubka were killed instantly. Joe Chambers, John Campbell, Alan Hansen, Frank “Butch” Henry, Chris Sanders, Art Stringer, Donnie Webb, Sr. and Lee Williams were evacuated to various burn units and later died.
More than 107 people, including first responders and civilians, were treated at the local hospital, some were transported to regional hospitals in Phoenix and Las Vegas and Henderson, NV.
Kingman was declared a disaster area by Mayor Shannon Shaw as well as County Manager, George Anast. Mayor Shaw ordered flags to be flown at half-mast for 30 days.
The 50th anniversary was observed in 2023 at Lee Williams High School and was well attended. A formal memorial is usually held every ten years.
According to the City of Kingman Fire Chief, Jack Yeager, the fallen firefighters are remembered every year at the time of the explosion (2:10 p.m.).
“On the day of the event we do the radio broadcast over all of our 9/11 radios in remembrance of those individuals,” he said. “It’s that somber, quiet, listening to the dispatcher; that happens every year.
“We’ve grown so much in technology and equipment and just everything. Of course, the whole world changed from ‘73 to now. But it’s just impressive to see how we’ve grown.
“And a lot of our decisions on training and how we move forward was, for the most part, that event dictated to the Kingman Fire Department, who they are. And still to this day, that’s who we are. And so, we remember them.
“The industry alone, when it comes to the standards they have to follow for offloading and loading and the safety valves and everything that’s out there today is, for the most part, from that event.
“(The Kingman BLEVE) really set the standards for training on propane. That was the biggest thing that came out of it…how firefighters get their training, what to do in an event like that. And so, yeah, it changed.”
Yeager comes from a family of firefighters. His grandfather and his father were firefighters as well as his brother and son-in-law; his grandson also wants to be a firefighter.
Yeager’s father, also named Jack, was one of the responders from Mohave Valley in 1973. They helped answer calls and keep the decimated Kingman Fire Department functional in the aftermath.
Becky Foster
