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

 

[Anonymous Poster]

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./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif 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./w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif

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

 

[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/world/americas/newsid_1463000/1463957.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

 

[Bird]

A pressure buildup? Yeah, I think you could safely assume that much./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif I had heard that there were two officers among the wounded. One story on TV said their bullet proof vests were the only thing that saved their lives. But I hadn't heard what they were doing there.

Bird

 

[ERNIEB]

Al, just what I was thinking, especially after reading Patrick's post. I know nothing about steam engines, and had no idea there were so many accidents back in the days of steam.

Ernie

 

[r0GuE]

A pressure buildup,...
Boy those are some real detectives on the scene to have come to such an elusive conclusion so quickly!
A sarcastic phrase used often when I was a kid..
"no [censored] sherlock!"

Rogue

 

[Joe_W]

Being in Ohio, our local paper has followed this story from the beginning. The 2 officers were talking to the tractor operator because he operated the tractor on a recently paved state route, tearing up the new pavement. They were supposedly writing him a ticket when the tractor operator noticed that the water level was low in the boiler and he opened the valve dumping cold water on the red hot crown sheet above the boiler. The resulting explosion killed 4 and injured over 50, with one reportedly having burns over 100% of their body. It was previously reported that the tractor owner was having trouble with his water guage the day before. A truly tragic event. We have attended many steam tractor reunions in the Greenville Ohio area over the years, and it's always been in the back of my mind that these are a time bomb waiting to go off if not fully understood and constantly watched.
Joe W.

 

[Joe_W]

Another update:
In this mornings paper it was announced that another young man died on Saturday, bringing the death toll to 5. He was at the fair as a volunteer for the business he works for. There are still many people in the hospital, among them the daughter of the owner of the tractor that exploded, the 2 police officers, and a 12 year old boy that's on a ventilator.
The local politicos are considering regulations and inspections on future steam engine displays.

 

[ERNIEB]

Joe_W, have you heard anything that the expert investigators may have turned up?

Ernie

 

[Joe_W]

Hi Ernie,
They are still doing the investigation, and it may be some time before the official cause is determined, but preliminary reports indicate operator error, or sight glass malfunction. The sight glass is a water filled glass tube that gives a direct reading of the water level in the boiler. The water level MUST be higher than the top of the firebox when it is under steam. On old steam train engines, they had fusible metal plugs in the top of the firebox. That way if the heat got too intense in the firebox, the plugs would melt and steam would blow into the firebox putting out the fire (in theory). I don't know whether steam tractors have this same system or not. I doubt if they were as strictly regulated as the train engines were at the time. I've seen many of these tractors left totally unattended, with a full head of steam at steam tractor shows through the years. I always tend to walk away from them when I would see that. I've been interested in trains for years and I understand the dynamics of steam propulsion and it's dangers, and I've developed a very heathy respect for these old monsters. Even the little ones running 70-80 lbs. pressure can make a horrific explosion if not properly operated. The bigger ones can have 150 lbs or more operating pressure. Some of the late steam train engines had over 225 lbs pressure, but there were many more safeties build into them by the late 40's. Steam tractors were pretty well obsolete by the late 20's, so they never had all the latest safety equipment.