Unbelievable

[Bird]

Just read the following on iwon.com this morning.

MEDINA, Ohio (Reuters) - An antique steam-powered tractor exploded on Sunday at a county fairground here, killing four men and injuring about 35 to 40 people, including children, officials said.
Four men were killed by the blast and dozens more were injured when metal shrapnel and hot oil spewed from the machine, causing severe burns, lacerations and broken bones, police and hospital officials said.

Officials told CNN that the blast occurred without warning, gushing hot oil 50 to 75 yards, injuring spectators.

A nursing supervisor at the Akron Children's Hospital Medical Center in Akron, Ohio, where eight people were being treated, said she heard reports that children were riding the machine when it blew up. Police could not confirm the reports.

Among those hurt were many children, and at least one police officer, said the nursing supervisor, who declined to give her name.

"We have a set of sisters and their grandfather," she said. "We have a set of brothers. We have a 12-year-old boy. All of them we are considering in serious condition until we complete our triage. I was told that one of the adult patients was incubated with burns of at least 50 percent".


A spokeswoman for the Medina General Hospital said 17 people were being treated there.

Other people were sent to six or seven other area hospitals, the spokeswoman said.

Police said they would hold a 7:30 a.m EDT press conference to provide an update on their investigation into the blast.

The locomotive is part of an exhibit of old engines at the fair, which opened on Sunday. Medina is located about 25 miles southwest of Cleveland.

Bird

[DONOTDELETE]

I saw this on the news last night... like a bomb went off... {showed an overhead video shot like taken from a helicopter}

Bird, you aptly described it in your title...Unbelievable...

[Von]

This story was on the 11:00 news last night. Lets hope those people hurt are going to be alright. From the photos that I saw it appaired to be quite an old steam tractor that blew up.

[MJB]

A real tragedy.[img]/w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif[/img] I have read a few books about steam traction engines, and this explosion sounds like a classic "crown sheet failure". The crown sheet is the piece of steel that covers the firebox. If the water level in the boiler gets to low the crown sheet can become exposed at quickly turns red-hot from the heat in the firebox. When the water sloshes back onto the crown sheet it immediately becomes superheated and tremendously boosts the steam pressure in the boiler. The relief valve frequently can't open fast enough or vent pressure fast enough to keep the boiler from exploding. I read that during the height of popularity of steam power there was an average of 2 boiler explosions in the USA every day.[img]/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif[/img]


I love the smell of diesel in the morning. [img]/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[RPM]

Believe it or not I saw the story being carried by the BBC (English news TV) ... more at:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/wor...00/1463957.stm



It's a tragic accident. My grandfather was a doctor with a rural practice and he would often take my father on his 'rounds'. I've heard no end of tragic tales of farming accidents from these old machines. They are wonderful pieces of engineering but their operation requires great skill in order to preserve life and limb.

I'm not for legislation - but it wouldn't hurt to at least make people aware that these machines are not without risk. There have been several times when I have been to 'steam engine fairs' with my father and he has pointed out dangerous practices.

My thoughts and prayers are certainly with the injured and families of the dead today - the story says that many of the injured were children.

Patrick

[Bird]

As might be expected, I see it's making all the national news today. I just heard them say on MSNBC that it may be awhile before they know just what caused the explosion because the only steam engine experts around were the guys who were killed in the explosion.

It is indeed a tragedy. Coincidentally, my wife and I spent September and October '93 at Medina; met a lot of nice folks there.

Bird

[ejb]

>>the only steam engine experts around were the guys who were killed in the explosion.

Not entirely true...I used to work for a company in Hartford, CT "Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company". (I think they have since been bought up by another company, but there were over 2000 people working for teh company many, many of them who were directly involved with the inspection and certification of steam engines...just the fact that a multi-billion dollar company that specializes in just this sort of thing ought to tell you that steam engines can be very dangerous. Company was founded 150 years or so ago, and was mostly focused on steam locomotives because they were notoriously dangerous (explosions).

Sad story...

[Bird]

Ooops, sorry ejb if my wording was misleading. I don't recall the exact words MSNBC used, but I got the impression they were talking about no other experts at the location at this time. I've no doubt there are plenty of knowledgeable folks in the world, and I have no doubt that some of them will be brought in to do a thorough investigation of the cause.

Bird

[ERNIEB]

Bird, The last story on this I saw on Iwon had these little tidbits.
<font color=blue>"It definitely was a pressure buildup," Medina County Sheriff Neil Hassinger said, adding that a conclusive cause of Sunday's explosion would await inspections of the wreckage by expert investigators.</font color=blue>
Also in the same story.
<font color=blue>Witnesses told authorities the driver was talking with two policemen who were in the process of ticketing him for illegally driving the metal-wheeled machine on pavement.</font color=blue>





Ernie

[TWINKLE_TOES]

Ernie,

<font color=blue>was talking with two policemen who were in the process of ticketing him for illegally driving the metal-wheeled machine on pavement.</font color=blue>

I wonder if this is a case of tending to the police when he should have been tending to the machine???

Al