On Aug. 18, 1959, a Kansas gasoline tank explosion killed six people, including five Missouri firefighters. Sixty years later, that tragedy spurred changes to better protect the public and firefighters.
The blast happened on Southwest Boulevard in Kansas City, KS, and Kansas City, MO, firefighters Virgil Sams, Delbert Stone and Neal Owen, as well as Capts. Peter Sirna and George Bartels, died from battling the blaze, KSHB-TV reports. Departments from both states honored those men and the civilian who lost his life in the fire Friday at a memorial for the incident near the state line.
John Sima, a Kansas City, MO, apparatus operator, is the grandson of Capt. Peter Sima, and he understands that his grandfather's sacrifice led to safety improvements decades later.
"With every tragic situation, life lessons are learned, things are approached differently. In that aspect, hopefully countless lives after that fire have been saved," John Sirna told KSHB.
Because of the explosion, gas tanks are now put underground, a move that eliminates the problems encountered in 1959. Firefighters also have changed how they tackle such incidents.
“We know now where the weaker spots are, we attack [above-ground tanks] from the sides, cool the tank down, instead of from the ends which are the weaker spots. It has definitely changed the tactics and also the storage of fuel," Deputy Chief Jimmy Walker told KSHB.
