Cleveland Clinic fire of 1929

Last updated
Cleveland Clinic fire of 1929
Original Clinic Building c1921.jpg
DateMay 15, 1929 (1929-05-15)
Time11:30 AM
Location Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Coordinates 41°30′11″N81°37′19″W / 41.503146°N 81.621946°W / 41.503146; -81.621946
Deaths123
Non-fatal injuries92
Property damageUS$50,000 (equivalent to $887,000in 2023)
AwardsUS$45,000

A major structure fire occurred at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on May 15, 1929. Flammable nitrocellulose X-ray film ignited in a basement storage room, emitting a poisonous yellowish-brown gas which spread throughout much of the Clinic and subsequently exploded several times. [1] The fire claimed 123 lives including that of one of the Clinic's founders, Dr. John Phillips. [2] [3] Most of the deaths from the fire were due to toxic inhalation. Many were immediate; some were delayed by hours or even days. A policeman, Ernest Staab, rescued 21 victims from the fire, and left the scene, seemingly in good health. He later collapsed while working on his lawn, was hospitalized, but contrary to many contemporaneous newspaper articles [a] survived and worked for the police department for another 25 years. [7] [6]

Contents

Disaster

The X-ray file room after the fire Xray file room after disaster 1929 A6159.jpg
The X-ray file room after the fire

The Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit Ohio corporation, founded in 1921 by four physicians. On May 15, 1929, which was a Wednesday, the four-story Clinic building on Euclid Avenue was bustling with physicians, nurses, employees and patients, busy with the work of the Clinic's medical-surgical practice. Some 250 people were estimated to be in the building that day.

A steam leak had been discovered in the basement room where the Clinic's voluminous X-ray film records, estimated to be at least 4,200 pounds (1,900 kg) – possibly as much as 10,000 pounds (4,500 kg) – were stored. [8] A steamfitter began repairs at 9 a.m., stripped some of the insulation from the steam pipes, then left the building to turn off the steam and allow the pipe to cool down sufficiently so that the repair could be completed safely. A few hours later, around 11 a.m., he returned to the X-ray storage room, and encountered a noxious cloud of yellowish-brown gas. After a futile attempt to control the fire with a fire extinguisher, a small explosion, the first of several, expelled him from the room. He and a maintenance man working in the basement's adjacent mechanical room raised the initial alarm.

The burning nitrocellulose X-ray films quickly produced a significant amount of poisonous gas which spread throughout much of the building via the pipe chases which connected to the neighboring mechanical room. A stair door on the third floor was held open by a foot latch, and the toxic gas was especially thick on that floor. Later chemical analysis suggested the victims inhaled phosgene, carbon monoxide, nitric oxide, and methyl chloride, all generated by the smoldering films. [9] [10] Their faces turned yellowish-brown within minutes as they suffocated. [2] Further complicating response to the fire, nitrocellulose continues to burn even while immersed in water and fighting the film-fueled fire simply caused more poisonous smoke to accumulate, raising the death toll. [11]

Three theories were advanced for the initial ignition of the films: a high temperature steam leak from the pipe being repaired on the day of the fire destabilizing the films, inadvertent contact from a bare, hanging light bulb, or, possibly, a discarded, incompletely extinguished cigarette. A formal review by the National Board of Fire Underwriters found all three credible. [8]

A major explosion came at a few seconds past 11:30 a.m.; a clock on the third floor balcony stopped at that time. After the hollow center of the building was filled with poisonous gas, another large explosion shattered a skylight at the peak of the building's atrium. The skylight explosion was a mixed blessing. The force of the explosion sent the vapors throughout the clinic, but also provided a large opening in the center of the building which allowed the toxic gas to escape. Many of the building's occupants succumbed in stairways while attempting to exit the Clinic. [2] [8]

The first alarm reached the fire department shortly after the explosion at 11:30 a.m. The responding fire company subsequently called in two other fire units to battle the fire. Initially, the building's windows were obscured by the toxic gas. It was not until the second large explosion blew out the skylight, and the gas began to dissipate, that the fire companies realized how many people were still in the building. Efforts to rescue the injured and recover the dying proceeded apace. By 1:15 p.m., the fire was extinguished and the building was empty. [8]

Aftermath

The four story original clinic building, the site of so much disaster, though literally overshadowed by many newer surrounding hospital and research facilities, still stands. Under the current (as of 2022) CCF naming system it is designated building "T." [12] The building's lobby contains a small exhibit memorializing the 1929 fire.

Despite the heavy loss of life, firemen estimated the property damage at only $50,000[ citation needed ] (equivalent to $887,000in 2023 [13] ).

According to investigators, the Cleveland Clinic was not at fault for the fire. Nonetheless, the disaster was responsible for influencing significant changes to firefighting techniques. The city of Cleveland issued gas masks to its fire departments and proposed a city ambulance service. [1] Nationally, the disaster prompted medical facilities to establish standards for the storage of nitrocellulose film and other hazardous materials. [1]

Some historians have argued that the Cleveland Clinic fire was also a catalyst for the development of non-flammable, non-toxic chlorofluorocarbon refrigerants. Nevertheless, most of the deaths were from breathing carbon monoxide and nitric oxide rather than methyl chloride itself, and even at the time of the disaster chemical companies were aware of the hazards of existing refrigerants. [14]

Notes

  1. ↑ Contemporaneous news articles, such as The New York Times and The Washington Post articles published immediately after the disaster, listed Staab as dead (as well as other reflective accounts). [4] [5] A 1931 article in the Grand Island Daily Independent indicates that Staab survived. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Propane</span> Hydrocarbon compound

Propane is a three-carbon alkane with the molecular formula C3H8. It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure, but compressible to a transportable liquid. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum refining, it is often a constituent of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), which is commonly used as a fuel in domestic and industrial applications and in low-emissions public transportation; other constituents of LPG may include propylene, butane, butylene, butadiene, and isobutylene. Discovered in 1857 by the French chemist Marcellin Berthelot, it became commercially available in the US by 1911. Propane has lower volumetric energy density than gasoline or coal, but has higher gravimetric energy density than them and burns more cleanly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nitrocellulose</span> Highly flammable compound

Nitrocellulose is a highly flammable compound formed by nitrating cellulose through exposure to a mixture of nitric acid and sulfuric acid. One of its first major uses was as guncotton, a replacement for gunpowder as propellant in firearms. It was also used to replace gunpowder as a low-order explosive in mining and other applications. In the form of collodion it was also a critical component in an early photographic emulsion, the use of which revolutionized photography in the 1860s. In the 20th century it was adapted to automobile lacquer and adhesives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Our Lady of the Angels School fire</span> 1958 school fire in Chicago, Illinois

On Monday, December 1, 1958, a fire broke out at Our Lady of the Angels School in Chicago, Illinois, shortly before classes were to be dismissed for the day. The fire originated in the basement near the foot of a stairway. The elementary school was operated by the Archdiocese of Chicago and had an enrollment of approximately 1600 students. A total of 92 pupils and three nuns ultimately died when smoke, heat, fire, and toxic gases cut off their normal means of egress through corridors and stairways. Many more were injured when they jumped from second-floor windows which, because the building had a raised basement, were nearly as high above ground as a third floor would be on level ground, approximately 25 feet (7.6 m).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cleveland Clinic</span> Hospital in Ohio, United States

Cleveland Clinic is an American nonprofit academic medical center based in Cleveland, Ohio. Owned and operated by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, an Ohio nonprofit corporation, Cleveland Clinic was founded in 1921 by a group of faculty and alumni from the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. The Clinic runs a 170-acre (69-hectare) main campus in Cleveland, as well as 14 affiliated hospitals, 20 family health centers in Northeast Ohio, 5 affiliated hospitals in Florida, and cancer center in Nevada. International operations include the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi hospital in the United Arab Emirates and Cleveland Clinic Canada, which has two executive health and sports medicine clinics in Toronto. Another hospital campus in the United Kingdom, Cleveland Clinic London, opened to outpatients in 2021 and fully opened in 2022. Tomislav Mihaljevic is the president and CEO.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cleveland East Ohio Gas explosion</span> 1944 industrial accident

The Cleveland East Ohio Gas explosion occurred on the afternoon of Friday, October 20, 1944. The resulting gas leak, explosion and fires killed 131 people and destroyed a one-square-mile area on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roof and tunnel hacking</span> Unauthorized exploration of utility spaces

Roof and tunnel hacking is the unauthorized exploration of roof and utility tunnel spaces. The term carries a strong collegiate connotation, stemming from its use at MIT and at the U.S. Naval Academy, where the practice has a long history. It is a form of urban exploration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New London School explosion</span> Gas leak explosion in New London, Texas in 1937

The New London School explosion occurred on March 18, 1937, when a natural gas leak caused an explosion and destroyed the London School in New London, Texas, United States. The disaster killed 295 students and teachers. As of 2021, the event is the third-deadliest disaster in the history of Texas, after the 1900 Galveston hurricane and the 1947 Texas City disaster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gas explosion</span> Explosion caused by mixing a combustible gas with air in the presence of an ignition source

A gas explosion is the ignition of a mixture of air and flammable gas, typically from a gas leak. In household accidents, the principal explosive gases are those used for heating or cooking purposes such as natural gas, methane, propane, butane. In industrial explosions, many other gases, like hydrogen, as well as evaporated (gaseous) gasoline or ethanol play an important role. Industrial gas explosions can be prevented with the use of intrinsic safety barriers to prevent ignition, or use of alternative energy.

The Spyros disaster was a major industrial disaster that occurred in Singapore on 12 October 1978, where the Greek tanker Spyros exploded at Jurong Shipyard, killing 76 people and injuring 69 others. It remains the worst accident, in terms of lives lost, in Singapore's post-war history. It is also Singapore's worst industrial accident.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Humberto Vidal explosion</span> Explosion in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico in 1996

The Humberto Vidal explosion was a gas explosion that occurred on November 21, 1996 at the Humberto Vidal shoe store in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico. The explosion killed 33 and wounded 69 others when the building collapsed. It is one of the deadliest disasters to have occurred on the island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PEPCON disaster</span> 1988 explosions and fire in Nevada

On May 4, 1988, a fire followed by several explosions occurred at the Pacific Engineering and Production Company of Nevada (PEPCON) chemical plant in Henderson, Nevada. The disaster caused two fatalities, 372 injuries, and an estimated $100 million of damage. A large portion of the Las Vegas Valley within a 10-mile (16 km) radius of the plant was affected and several agencies activated disaster plans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mine rescue</span> Rescue of persons trapped after mining accidents

Mine rescue or mines rescue is the specialised job of rescuing miners and others who have become trapped or injured in underground mines because of mining accidents, roof falls or floods and disasters such as explosions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Explosion</span> Sudden release of heat and gas

An explosion is a rapid expansion in volume of a given amount of matter associated with an extreme outward release of energy, usually with the generation of high temperatures and release of high-pressure gases. Explosions may also be generated by a slower expansion that would normally not be forceful, but is not allowed to expand, so that when whatever is containing the expansion is broken by the pressure that builds as the matter inside tries to expand, the matter expands forcefully. An example of this is a volcanic eruption created by the expansion of magma in a magma chamber as it rises to the surface. Supersonic explosions created by high explosives are known as detonations and travel through shock waves. Subsonic explosions are created by low explosives through a slower combustion process known as deflagration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1979 Warsaw gas explosion</span> 1979 gas explosion in Warsaw, Poland

The 1979 explosion at PKO Bank Polski's Rotunda office in Warsaw took place on 15 February 1979, at 12:37 p.m. As a result, 49 people died and 135 were injured. Officially, the disaster was caused by a gas explosion, but in the course of time much speculation appeared, and Varsovians talked among themselves that the building had been blown up by a bomb.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California Hall (UC Berkeley)</span> United States historic place

California Hall is one of the original "classical core" Beaux-Arts-style Classical Revival buildings on the UC Berkeley campus. Construction began in 1903 under the lead of University Architect John Galen Howard after the university's adoption of the Phoebe Hearst master architectural plan for the Berkeley campus. The building opened in August, 1905. In 1982, it was named to the National Register of Historic Places, and is designated as an architectural feature of California Historic Landmark no. 946. In 1991, the Landmarks Preservation Committee of the City of Berkeley designated it Berkeley City Landmark no. 147. It currently houses the University of California Berkeley Chancellor's Office and the Graduate Division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1937 Fox vault fire</span> Fire at film storage facility in New Jersey

A major fire occurred in a 20th Century-Fox film-storage facility in Little Ferry, New Jersey, United States on July 9, 1937. Flammable nitrate film had previously contributed to several fires in film-industry laboratories, studios and vaults, although the precise causes were often unknown. In Little Ferry, gases produced by decaying film, combined with high temperatures and inadequate ventilation, resulted in spontaneous combustion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Cleveland Clinic</span>

The Cleveland Clinic was established in 1921 as a group surgical-medical practice with its own dedicated hospital in Cleveland, in the U.S. state of Ohio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1914 Lubin vault fire</span> Destruction of a film-storage vault

On the morning of June 13, 1914, a disastrous fire and a series of related explosions occurred in the main film vault of the Lubin Manufacturing Company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Several possible causes for the blaze were cited at the time, one being "spontaneous combustion" of highly flammable nitrate film, which was the motion picture industry's standard medium for cameras throughout the silent era and for the first two decades of "talking pictures". Millions of feet of film were consumed in the flames, including most of the master negatives and initial prints of Lubin's pre-1914 catalog, several of the company's recently completed theatrical prints ready for release and distribution, a considerable number of films produced by other studios, inventories of raw and stock footage, hundreds of reels documenting historic events that occurred between 1897 and early 1914, as well as other films related to notable political and military figures, innovations in medical science, and professional athletic contests from that period. While this fire was not a decisive factor in Lubin's decline and bankruptcy by September 1916, costs associated with the disaster only added to the corporation's mounting debts, which led to the closure or sale of its remaining operations the following year.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Cleveland Clinic Fire" . Retrieved 2009-06-16.
  2. 1 2 3 "Cleveland, OH Clinic Explosion and Fire, May 1929". Archived from the original on 2021-10-17. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  3. ↑ "Encyclopedia of Cleveland History: Cleveland Clinic Disaster" . Retrieved 2011-05-07.
  4. ↑ "Policeman Dies After Taking 21 Out of Gas-Filled Clinic" . New York Times. New York, NY. AP. May 16, 1929. p. 2. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
  5. ↑ "Life Given Moving 21 Living and Dead" . Washington Post. Washington, D.C. AP. May 16, 1929. p. 2. ProQuest   149968527 . Retrieved August 8, 2022– via ProQuest Historical Newspapers.
  6. 1 2 Teed, Dexter (May 18, 1931). ""Creeping Death" Still Pursues Policeman-Hero of Great Cleveland Clinic Disaster of 1929". Grand Island Daily Independent. Grand Island, Nebraska. NEA. p. 13. Retrieved August 8, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Policeman Ernest Staab's Heroic Effort". Cleveland Historical. (Source: Cleveland Memory Project, Cleveland State University Library Special Collections / Corbis photo). Center for Public History + Digital Humanities. Archived from the original on October 16, 2021. Retrieved August 8, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Report on the Cleveland Clinic Fire, May 15, 1929" . Retrieved 2022-05-13.
  9. ↑ "CLEVELAND CLINIC DISASTER, Encyclopedia of Cleveland History". 11 November 2020. Retrieved 2021-11-01.
  10. ↑ "YALE THROWS LIGHT ON EFFECTS OF GASSES, New York Times, May 19,1929". The New York Times. Retrieved 2021-11-01.
  11. ↑ Health and Safety Executive leaflet/cellulose.pdf
  12. ↑ "Cleveland Clinic Main Campus Map" (PDF). my.clevelandclinic.org. Cleveland Clinic Foundation. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  13. ↑ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–" . Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  14. ↑ Giunta, Carmen Lee; 'Thomas Midgley Jr. and the Invention of Cholorofluocarbon refrigerants: It Ain't Necessarily So'; Bulletin of Historical Chemistry; volume 31, Number 2 (2006); pp. 66-74
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.