Texas school explosion of 1937
The Texas school explosion of 1937 was a tragic incident that occurred at the New London Consolidated School on March 18, during the last class of the day. At approximately 3:17 p.m., an electric sander used by a shop teacher ignited a large quantity of natural gas that had leaked into the building. This gas had been drawn from an unauthorized tap on a residue gas line connected to a nearby oil field, which the school had used to reduce heating costs. The explosion caused the concrete floor to blow upward and led to the collapse of the building's side walls, resulting in significant destruction.
Rescue efforts were carried out by local community members, many of whom were parents of the students affected; they worked tirelessly to remove approximately two thousand tons of debris in hopes of saving lives and recovering the deceased. The disaster highlighted critical issues regarding building safety, leading to the implementation of stricter state construction laws and regulations. Additionally, new laws mandated the addition of odorants to natural gas to improve leak detection. This event remains a poignant reminder of the importance of safety standards within educational institutions.
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Texas school explosion of 1937
The Event Destruction of consolidated school
Date March 18, 1937
Place New London, Texas
Measured in lives lost, the New London school explosion was the most catastrophic school disaster in American history.
At 3:17 p.m., during the last period of Texas’s school day, a shop teacher on the basement floor of the New London consolidated school plugged in an electric sander, igniting a large quantity of natural “wet” gas that had leaked into the dead spaces of the building. The gas, used to fuel the school’s seventy-two radiators, was drawn from an unauthorized tap of a residue gas line that ran under the school from the nearby oil field, saving the school a reported three hundred dollars per month in heating bills. The concrete floor of the main story exploded upward through the classrooms and roof, after which the side walls collapsed into the basement. Rescue workers, many of them parents of the victims, worked all night to remove an estimated two thousand tons of rubble in efforts to save the living and recover the bodies of the dead.
Impact
The disaster demonstrated the importance of state construction laws, regular inspections, and licensing of maintenance personnel to enforce compliance with safe practices in schools and other assembly occupancies in areas outside municipal building code jurisdictions. State laws were passed requiring malodorants in natural gas so that leaks could be more readily detected.
Bibliography
Olson, Lori. New London School: In Memoriam, March 18, 1937, 3:17 p.m. Austin, Tex.: Eakin Press, 2001.
Parker, D. J., and G. W. Jones. “Explosion in School Building at New London, Texas, March 18, 1937.” Report of Investigations (Bureau of Mines) 3365 (1937).
Smith, H. Oram. “The London, Texas, School Disaster.” National Fire Protection Association Quarterly 30, no. 4 (1937): 299-311.